


Even if it will hurt, I will live for you

by HaruJoker



Category: Legacy of Kain
Genre: Abuse, Animals, Arranged Marriage, Beating, Blood, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Character Turned Into Vampire, Domestic Violence, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Fainting, Fantasy, Half-Human, Military Training, Physical Abuse, Recruitment, Roses, Time Travel, Training, Vampire Bites, Vampire Turning, Vampires, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:00:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 57,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24496102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaruJoker/pseuds/HaruJoker
Summary: Niah, a young lady that lives with her abusing and limitating father, prey of a vampire unable to kill her, ends fallling in love for the predator and decides to live a life (or unlife) with him. Will everything be sunshine and flowers like she immagines?This is a fanfiction, I do not own the game's characters or story, but I own my original characters and original story in the game's events
Relationships: Raziel (Legacy of Kain)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 9





	1. First Encounter

It is already dark outside, I go to my room after dinner, after my usual bath, and I put my nightgown on for the night. I’m just going under the bed sheets, when I hear the windows oper with a loud slam and a blow of cold wind runs over me. I was sure I closed them well that evening, before dinner. I move the light curtains aside and close the windows. They are tall to the cealing with an internal seat and they lead to a little balcony that watches the street below. I turn towards the bed but a shadow passes only mere inches from my visage. And that shadow stops right behind me. They lay their hands on my shoulders causing me a cold shiver. They near their face to my ear and whisper: “Stay still…you will remember nothing of all this”

I lose my senses.

In the morning I wake up. I’m on my bed covered by the sheets. It is midsummer, but at night temperatures lower quite a bit. I get up keeping a hand on my temple because of my dizziness. Then I feel a strange stinging pain on my shoulder. I walk to my mirror and see two little red dots.

<<What…are these…>>

They don’t seem mosquito bites. Something on my writing desk catches my attention and I see a red rose. I walk near that spot and I notice a little note with a stylish black handwriting: “ _I hope those will not give you any annoyance. R._ ” Who are they? Are they referring to the dots on the shoulder? And how could they know?

I place the note between the first pages of my notebook that I use for drawing and writing. I go open my wardrobe doors to chose what to wear that day. I do not like light colors, in my closet there are only dark ones: red, bordeaux, blue, black, purple, dark green and so on. I find one which covers the shoulders, just what I was searching for to cover myself. It is light in weight and its sleeves go down a little over the elbows. I look at my reflection in the mirror: a girl, tall and thin, with light blue eyes and a bob that goes just under the chin without bangs but a tuft of hair falling to the right, red on the roots that shades black on the lenght to the tips. A really strange color for being natural.

The sky outside is covered i white-greyish clouds, I go open the windows to let the fresh morning air in, then I exit my room and go to the kitchen to have brekfast. It is my habit to have a warm cup of tea with some lemon drops and a teaspoon of sugar matching with some pastry or bisquits. Considering that there is no sun, I decide to go for a walk in the streets of the city and I find myself in the usual market. I walk through the stalls glancing here and there and I stop at the jewelry one. I admire the necklaces, the earrings and bracalets, knowing I have no money with me to spend and buy anyting. My eyes fall on a very thin silver chain with a ruby pendant in the shape of a rose. It is wonderful.

<<Good morning, young lady. It’s a beautiful day today, is it not?>>

The woman who owns the stall draws my attention.

<<I see you are interested in that necklace with the rose. It’s very beautiful>>

<<Yes, it is indeed>>

I smile at her.

<<You should try it, I guess it will be very lovely on you>>

I try it on and the cold silver leans on my chest.

<<I was sure of it. If you want I can make you a special price>>

<<W-what? A special price? I-I’m sorry, I do not have any money with me>>

I remove the necklace and put it on its initial place.

<<You know what? I want to make you a gift. It suits you so well and I do not think it will be the same for other girls>>

<<I can not accept, really. It must be of big value, i can not accept it>>

<<As you wish…but if you change your mind you will find me here>>

She smiles at me and I do the same, dismissing myself nodding. After some time, passing by the church, I notice that it is almost midday. Going back home and walking once again through the market tables, with the corner of my eye I see the rose necklace no more. It was very very nice…but my father does not want me to spend money in jewelry.

After lunch I go upstairs in my room to practice with my writing and drawing skills. After a couple of minutes I notice that, accidentally, I drew the pedant of that morning. Then I remember the flower on my desk, but it is not where i left it. Clara, the servant, must have taken it while cleaning my room. What a pity. It was a really beautiful rose. The evening arrives after a more or less sunny afternoon. After dinner I go back to my room and begin to watch the stars in the sky sitting at the window. I hear my father coming in from the front door and then, runnin, up the stairs. He enters my room without knocking.

<<Niah! What is this all about??>>

He holds the rose in his fist. Behind him a little blond servant is trembling in fear. Clara. Between her lips I can read what she says: “I’m sorry, I did not mean to”. My father gets near me and catches my arm with his free hand.

<<Well??>>

<<I did nothing!>>

<<And where does this come from??>>

I do not know how that rose arrived in my room, but I try to find an excuse.

<<I-I went out early this morning and picked it up from the neighbours garden>>

My arm hurts, almost making me cry, but I cry for the consequences my words will have.

<<Oh! So now you are a thief!>>

<<No! It was detached and on the ground!>>

<<I don’t care! You know I don’t want you to go outside alone, when everyone sleep or with no one around!!>>

He leaves me hurting on the floor. Then he makes the servant go away, closes the door and picks up one of my leather belts. And then…only pain. He whips me on my back and on the legs until I bleed. It happens every time I disobey or do something he does not like.

When the punishment ends, he exits slamming the door shut and closing it with the key, I on the contrary sit on the bench at the window and wait for the wounds to close a little, just to make them stop bleeding before laying on the bed. I clean the blood with a handkerchief, wet with water from the basin that the servant fills every day with clean water. A fresh relief in nights like this. I watch the moon with tears in my eyes and I lay a hand on the dots on the shoulder. They are bordered by a violaceus bruise and they hurt a little. But non like the signs of the leather on my skin. When I feel to be able to stand, I get up and strip of the bloody nitghtgown. Watching my back on the mirror I see some trickles of dried blood. I take a clean white nighgown and put it on leaving the ruined one near the door. I let myself fall prone on the bed, but the pain makes me contract the muscles anyway, I lay on my side so I can watch the windows. A shadow covers the moon for an instant and I sit on impulse. The glass doors open wide, I crouch in the farthest corner on the bed supported by the walls. I’m scared. A dark sillhouette jumps in my room, without making any noise. Their black hair is collected in a low short tail in the back and a bob that covers just the tip of their ears with a central attachment line. They stand. They are tall and thin, white skin, with muscolar shoulders and arms, covered by metal shoulder armor and a red cloack that covers their right arm down to the waist. On their forearms some armor covers their skin to their slender hands with long nails, and their dark tight pants are covered from the knee down by leather boots.

I am paralized, I can not move. Their yellow eyes are watching straight in mine and send a shiver down my spine. They smile calm, their teeth so white seem to shine in the dark by the moonlight. They come near…I want to disappear. He stops at two steps from the bed, I tighten my grip on the sheet with one hand and try to defend myself with the other.

<<D-don’t hurt me…I-I beg you>>

A single tear slides down my cheek.

<<I do not have the slightest intention>>

His voice is low, calm, respectful. He gets on one knee, bowing.

<<I apologize, I did not mean to scare you this way, it was not in my interests>>

I get up a little from the corner to watch him better. His head low and eyes closed.

<<Who…who are you? A-and how were you able to open the windows?>>

He stands and watches me. I’m still petrified.

<<My name is Raziel, my lady. I wanted to ask your forgiveness for I have caused you so much trouble, beginning from the rose>>

It was him? But how did he do it?

<<I could not stop watching that man while he hurt you, earlier. I am really sorry, it is my fault>>

<<D-do not say that, it happens often, every time I disobey or do something wrong for him>>

He takes a deep breath with his eyes closed. After a couple of seconds he begins talking again.

<<I hope that your shoulder did not annoy you>>

I lay a hand on the little bruises watching away.

<<How d-did you know?>>

<<I am afraid I am also the reason behind them, my lady, and I am sorry I caused you pain>>

<<W-what…h-how?>>

He turns his head on the side, letting me see his profile illuminated by the moon. He has such perfect and beautiful features. His sigh brings my eyes on his sorry ones.

<<Will you promise me not to scream?>>

I nod quivering, the white light coming from ouside empasize something strange in his mouth. His lips are black and it looks like he has some teeth protruding underneath them.

<<I…am not human…>>

Panic begins to fill me…my eyes open even wider when I find the answer on my own.

<<…a v-vampire…>>

He turns towards me with sadness. Several questions are being swirled in my head like in a hurricane. But only one makes its way out of my lips.

<<Why am I still alive?>>


	2. Regret and Forgiveness

He looks at me astonished. Did he not expect such a question maybe?

<<…well…I did not make it…>>

I relax slightly while watching him staring at the wooden floor.

<<I did not manage to take your life…>>

What? A vampire having mercy on someone? I have always read and heard stories telling that vampires are heartless creatures, ready to kill anyone just to feed. But he…did not make it?

<<W-what do you mean?>>

My voice like a whisper.

<<…you are so young…still a young lady…>>

I can not belive this…I knew that those creatures favorite preys were young and beautiful girls, better if virgins. At least this is what I read in books.

<<Something told me that it was wrong…I do not know what…really…I am really sorry I caused you pain>>

I don’t know what to say…he looks really repentant.

<<D-do not worry…if you really are a vampire, it is in your nature…right?>>

A sincere smile on his lips,. Those full, dark lips. And another bow.

<<I am really glad and pleased you could understand>>

<<I did not really believe in “non-human” existence…but thanks to you, now I know you are real>>

A laugh. His voice is somehow calming, but I won’t get tricked with so little. When I was a little girl I have been bantered too many times even from adults, now I keep the distance with who I don’t know. I do not trust someone very easily. Even if something tells me he is different.

He stops laughing and smiles.

<<I think we would not be well accepted between humans. We always are discreet, swift and silent. It would not be a nice situation if we were to be detected by soldiers>>

<<You are right…it must be not easy for you>>

His eyes land on the stained nightgown and I see him clench his fists.

<<Why do you not rebel?>>

I look in the same direction and unbend my legs.

<<Because then it will be worse…>>

He looks at me aghast.

<<Worse? Worse than this? What is worse than wipping your own daughter?!>>

<<I do not wish to find it out>>

A melancholy smile appears on my lips as I look at him. He gets near the bed and sits on its edge. He looks at my legs, bruises begin to show. The vampire brushes them with the tips of his fingers, I feel the coolness of his skin on mine that induces a shiver and a light ease at the sting and the swelling.

<<They call us monsters…but true monsters are people like your father>>

I look at him terrorized. His glance burns in rage. I rest a hand on his making him boggle. His yellow eyes stare at me like they are looking at something for the first time.

Now that I know he is saying the truth I feel strangely safe around him. He does not want to hurt me. He brings his hand near my cheek and moves a strand of hair behind my ear.

<<Your eyes…are…magnificent…the moonlight emphasize their beauty>>

I feel my cheeks heating. Did he just compliment me? Seeing the redness on my face, he smiles at me than stand up going towards the window.

<<Wait!>>

He turns around, puzzled.

<<Then...y-you are not here to feed tonight?>>

Another smile. He comes back, takes my hand placing a soft kiss on the knuckles. Another wave of heat hits my cheeks.

<<Not tonight. I do not wish to bring you more pain…>>

Afterward he turns my hand and entrust me something. I understand the nature of the object at touch. When I open the fingers I see the pendant of that morning.

<<…you have taken it…>>

<<I noticed you liked it a lot>>

<<…I-I can not accept it I->>

<<You have to. It is a gift of mine. I will not allow you to refuse it>>

I stare at the thin chain shine in the moonlight.

<<I ask you just one thing. Do not let anyone know about it. I do not want to give rise to other trouble>>

I squeeze the necklace and bring it to my chest.

<<As you desire, sir->>

<<Raziel…just Raziel>>

<<…as you wish, Raziel>>

He retraces his steps but comes to an halt before going out. I watch him confused.

<<Your name is Niah, right?>>

How does he know?

<<Yes…yes it is…>>

He smiles.

<<Then…goodnight, Niah>>

<<Goodnight, Raziel>>

A gust of wind, then he is nowhere to be seen, and the windows are closed again. I stare at the pendant a few more seconds, I feel like it radiates some heat. I hide it under my pillow, then I slid under the bed sheet, laying it carefully to not rub my wounds and hoping to be able to sleep.

The night passes by peacefully. In the morning I’m awakened by the sound of the key that unlocks the keyhole of the door. It’s Clara, the servant that handed over the rose to my father.

<<My lady, it is time to wake up>>

I nod and go to the wardrobe. With the corner of my eye I can se her frightened face seeing the bloody nightgown on the floor, the one I am wearing and my legs. She never saw what my father is capable of.

<<I-I’m sorry…it is my fault>>

Her voice makes me understand her repentance. I smile at her.

<<It does not matter…did you show him something else?>>

She shakes her head and I sigh inside in relief. Carefully, she helps me change. I wear a large and light dress, in order to not feel it on the bruises.

<<Shall I prepare you breakfast?>>

I nod.

<<I will be there in minutes>>

She makes a little bow, takes the gowns and exits my room. I go back and sit on the bed, tuck a hand under the pillow and take back the pendant. It is even more beautiful with the sunlight. With a little key I open the jewel case hidden in the wardrobe and hide the necklace. I close it again and hide it. No one has the permission to rummage in my wardrobe. It can be opened only to put away the dresses. Neither my father has the power to order the servants to do it. And it is fortunate.

I go downstairs, I am home alone with the servant. Outside there is a lot of sun, and I do not wish to go outside. I sit at the piano and play it until lunch time. In the afternoon I go from playing the harp, to a book, to my desk between calligraphy and drawing. After dinner I sit on the bench at the window with it at my back, and spend some more time sketching. A rose, an eye, a symbol…his symbol. The white mark on the vampire’s red cape, Raziel’s.

A shadow passes outside, covering the light for half a second. I understand immediately, standing up, stepping away from the windows and laying notebook and pen on the desk. As soon as the objects touch the wooden surface, the glass doors open wide and the curtains fly with the wind. And he lands on the floor, without any sound, after jumping inside. His eyes are two fireflies in a wheat feald at night. His hair, ink lines on a paper. I stare at him breathless.

<<Good evening, Niah>>

His voice, a melody to the piano.

<<You came back>>

I step forward, getting near, smiling, trying to calm down my heart. Why does it beat like this?

<<How could I not, my lady? >>

He looks at me and smiles in return.

<<I am so glad to see you again>>

<<Did you miss me?>>

My cheeks begin to burn and my eyes are wide open. It is absurd, but it was partially true. Stunned by my reaction, he decides to change question.

<<How are you feeling? The wounds?>>

<<A-a little better…thank you>>

I rub an arm with a hand, he approaches me, takes it and kisses the knuckles. Another wave of heat on my cheeks. Again.

<<I too am glad to see you>>

His smile turns almost in a frown, becoming serious in a matter of seconds.

<<…I wish I could avoid it…but I am in need to…>>

Terror assoults me, but I see sadness in his features.

<<…y-you are here to feed…are you not? >>

He nods. I take a deep breath with my eyes closed. Then I open them and smile at him.

<<It is in your being afterall…>>

He looks at me amazed. I am offering myself. And if he would have killed me, I would not die with fear in my eyes. He brings me closer with an arm around my waist, I place my hands on his chest and look him straight in the eyes. My heart pounds so fast, I do not know if it is because of what is going to happen or because we are close. Very close.

He lowers the gown on my shoulder while his lips get near my neck. I let my head bend to the opposite side, ready to take the bite, but I fell just his cold lips on my skin. A little whine escapes my lips, maybe I am very sensitive there. His lips are now close to my ear.

<<I do not want to hurt you…forgive me>>

<<Do not worry, I have done so already…>>

I hear a little laugh.

<<…you will remember nothing of all this>>

I fall unconscious. But this time I am aware of what would have happened to me. I trust him. Even if I should not.


	3. Interruption

I wake up at sunrise in my bed, aching a little, but I do not see blood tracks on the floor, nor on the gown or on the sheets. I rub my shoulder, but it hurts less than it did last time. I try to get up, but I feel my strength failing my legs and I fall on the floor. My head is spinning and I cannot get up. I hear someone running up the stairs and slamming the door of my room open. It is Clara.

<<My lady?! Are you not feeling well?? What happened??>>

I cover my shoulder, the gown slipped in the fall, and I try again to get up, leaning on the bed. She helps me, staring worriedly at me.

<<Do not worry… everything is fine. My head hurts, just a little>>

<<You are pale. Are you sure? Do I have to call for the doctor?>>

<<The doctor? No. Really, there is no use in calling him. I just need to eat something>>

<<Shall I bring you your breakfast?>>

<<Yes, thank you. And use some more sugar than usual, please>>

She nods and goes back downstairs. I lay my back on the wall trying to relax, but my head just does not want to stop spinning. After a minute or two the servants comes back with my tea and some fruit pastries on a tray and lays it on the bedside table. I spend the whole day in bed, reading or drawing. I do not wish to move. When the evening comes, not feeling going downstairs, I decide to remain in my room and sleep. Or at least try to. When I am almost asleep, I sense someone sitting on my bed. I pretend to be asleep thinking it is my father, but his voice makes me understand that I am wrong.

<<Forgive me… I must have gone too far yesterday evening…>>

I open my eyes slowly, seeing him downhearted. In some way, he must have seen me worn-out during the day. I slowly sit on the mattress and touch his hand, laying beside mine.

<<You do not have to apologize, I am, rather, in need to thank you for letting me live>>

I smile at him and he looks at me with wide eyes. Then, seeing my hand on his, he takes it and lays a kiss on its back.

<<Niah...your hands are cold…>>

<<True… I always have had them this way, I do not know why. Yours seem warm compared to mine>>

A melancholy smile on his visage.

<<I wish they were… so I could warm yours up>>

I do not understand the reason behind his words, but every time my cheeks almost catch fire.

And he realizes it, because every time he smiles. I am not used to all this gentleness, I am not used to having a guy around, in having someone who thinks about me outside the servant I was entrusted to and my father, those times he does remember having a daughter. I am always tense when he is with me, because, besides being a cute guy I do not know, he is also a vampire. Even if I trust him, I could never know what’s inside his head. He as a sweet gaze, but inside he could be thinking of who knows which kind of torture.

I contract the muscles of my leg when I feel his hand laying on it. The bruises are not gone yet, on the contrary… they get worse every day.

<<Forgive me! I forgot that->>

<<I-it does not matter! Really, even I forgot about it, before you touched me…your company relieves me of every other thought…>>

He looks at me, bewildered, almost embarrassed.

Did I really say that? And did he really react that way? My cheeks burn in shame and I turn to look away in awkwardness.

<<A-apologies…it came out without my noticing…>>

I touch my forehead feeling it hot, maybe because of my cold hands, maybe because of the uneasiness. Then I cover my lips with a fist. What shame. He shifts a bit nearer, takes my chin and turns my head towards him. I do not have the courage to look at him, my gaze is directed at the wood planks of the floor.

<<Please…look at me>>

Slowly I shift my gaze from the floor to meet his. He is dead serious, his yellow eyes are like two bright oil lamps. So hypnotic.

<<Do you really think the things you said?>>

I nod slightly and move my eyes again. I cannot look at him, I am too ashamed.

<<Do you really think this of me when I caused you pain? When I drained your energy and almost took your life?>>

I cannot answer, my heart is going crazy, my cheeks burn and I have difficulty holding back shameful tears. I do not understand what is happening to me, why it is happening. A tear slips slowly on the cheekbone and a sob escapes from me. I close my eyes and I feel his lips on my cheek, after he dried it with his cape. Breathless, my eyelids open wide and I stare at him, other tears drop.

<<Do not cry, my lady…I did not mean to be so aggressive, forgive me…>>

He comes closer, making our foreheads touch, looking straight into my eyes. After he dries other salty tears with the cloth I took from under my pillow, he wraps my face gently with his hands and I lay mine on top, trying to calm down, I do not wish for someone to hear me.

<<I promise to never make you cry again…or I will try at least>>

He manages to make me laugh, and he smiles too. It is like we have known each other for years, but it’s been only for four nights… well… three. His eyes shine with the waning crescent moon, straight in mine, softened by my tears, they seem to almost quiver with desire…

<<Niah, the first night I saw you, something held me from murdering you…I do not know what, but I am glad that that something made it possible for all of this to happen. Everyday, in this three days, I waited for the dark to descend to see you again>>

My heartbeat quickens, I can not believe what he is saying, it is not possible…

<<It does not make sense… but, like you said yourself, when I am in your company every other thought fades… and this sensation grows every day>>

But it’s been just four days! That is, well… this is impossible! Even if, indeed, I cannot blame him… I was the first to say such a thing.

The blood pumps in my temples, my heart beating wildly, I do not understand anything anymore. One of his hands moves my hair behind my hair, the other one slips sweetly on my neck and on the nape. He comes closer… too close…

A sound from outside my room makes us jerk and in a moment he is gone. Panic. Windows closed, curtains drawn. The doop opens and my father enters.

<<Niah? Are you awake?>>

<<Yes father. W-what is it?>>

<<The servant told me you did not feel well today. Is everything fine?>>

<<Yes, everything is fine, no problems. I just need to rest, I did not sleep well tonight>>

He glances at my room, then his eyes are on me again.

<<Good. Then rest. Goodnight>>

Without waiting for an anwer, he exits and closes the door. I sigh in relief and rest on the wall. Looking outside the windows I see nothing. I get up and get closer, moving the curtains aside and looking out, on the streets, on the roofs. A dark silhouette, right on top of the building in front of my room, makes a broad gesture with an arm and bows, then vanishes. I smile and the heat on my cheeks comes back once more. I lay a hand on my chest, my heart does not want to decelerate. Feeling lighter, I retrace my steps and lay down again, staring at the ceiling, sighing. I close my eyes and fall asleep. A quiet night with a nice dream. A dream with him. I could not wish fon anything better.


	4. A sweet drop in a bitter day

In the morning I wake up fully restored, with a lot of will to do anything, but as soon as I look out of the window, I see thin raindrops that fall from the sky. Sighing I lean on the wall, my mood turns from good to almost sadness. I get closer, move the curtain and lay a hand on the frame that borders the glass. It must have rained for quite a lot, on the street there are some puddles, and there are black stormy clouds nearing from afar. I hate thunderstorms.

I change in my day clothes and fix myself, then I go downstairs to have breakfast. I cannot go outside, I do not want to write, I do not want to draw. I sit at the harp and let myself be carried by the melody that vibrates from the strings. Hours and hours passed playing, I am not aware of the passing time. I realize what time it is only in mid afternoon, when Clara calls me from my trance making me notice I did not have lunch. Oops. I was too taken in playing, in thinking…thinking of the episode of the night before. Every time I rethink of that my cheeks blush and a half smile gets drawn on my lips. So embarrassing. Fortune or misfortune that it is, his vampire abilities saved us from getting discovered. If my father saw us while…well, we would have be in trouble. A smile slips on my lips.

<<My lady, is everything fine?>>

<<Uh? Y-yes…yes it is>>

<<Are you hungry? Shall I bring you something?>>

<<No, it is not needed, I will wait for dinner. In the meantime I will be in my room, call me when it is time>>

She nods and goes back in the kitchen, I go upstairs and sit on the little sofa at the window staring at the rain. It is getting darker. The big dark clouds that do not appear to stray, seem to blend with a dark smoke far away. In the same place where I see lightning. Their thunder arrives after a couple of seconds making me flinch every time. Stupid storms.

My father comes back home and Clara calls me for dinner. We stay silent, until it is him who takes word.

<<I see you a bit down. Did something happen?>>

<<No father, everything is fine…>>

<<Your mood is often connected with the weather. But you know what? Be happy, I found your future husband>>

The bite almost chokes me. Future husband?!

<<W-what? You jest, right?>>

<<I am very serious. You are already twenty, and nobody stepped forward. It is already late for you to get married, but we have been lucky>>

He speaks with such a smile that looks like he cannot wait for it. Like he cannot wait for me to go away.

<<Can I ask to who?>>

<<He is the son of a coworker of mine. He is charming, smart, he is twentyeight and a great worker>>

Twentyeight?? Are we joking??

<<He is almost ten years older than me!>>

<<And you have been lucky. Your mother and I had almost twenty years separating us>>

<<And has it been an arranged marriage?>>

<<Well, of course. Like everyone here in region>>

<<And I should marry him without even knowing him? Would you leave me to someone you do not know??>>

<<It is for your sake>>

<<Mine or yours?! You just want me to go away!!>>

<<This is not true!>>

<<If you loved me like mum did, you would have let me go outside and know someone, and you would not treat me like you do!>>

<<ENOUGH!!>>

He stands and hits the table with his fists. With tears in my eyes, I run upstairs, take the key and lock myself in my room, blocking the handle with the chair and curling up under the desk with a pillow. I let out all my anger, suppressing my cries and screams tightening and sinking my face in the soft pillow. Someone come upstairs and tries to open the door, but the handle is blocked and there is not a copy of the key.

<<Niah, give up! Everything is already set!>>

He retraces his steps and goes away.

<<HE WILL PROBABLY TREAT ME BETTER THAN YOU DO! I HATE YOU!!>>

My voice comes out with all my remeining strength even if muffled by my sobs. I cry more, so much that I do not notice that has stopped raining. I stay there all night and all day. I do not want to see my father, I do not wish to see anybody. Evening falls once more. When I feel my tears coming to an end, I see the windows slamming open and a black shadow jumping inside.

<<...Raziel…>>

He turns towards me surprised.

<<What are you doing down there?>>

I rush to him and abandon myself in his arms. He hugs and cherishes me.

<<What happened? You seem distraught>>

Drying my cheeks, I stare at him and begin sobbing again.

<<My father promised my hand to a man I do not know…>>

<<What? You are joking…>>

<<Unfortunately I am not…>>

He severs lightly from the hug to look at me, his gaze goes from my face to the floor, then goes back up.

<<You are still in dayclothes, did you not change?>>

He tries to change subject to make me calm down.

<<N-no I did not…>>

<<This dress suits you so well>>

He makes me spinn slowly.

<<Indeed, this color really suits you>>

I dry another tear, smiling and blushing.

<<Thank you>>

<<Why do you not escape?>>

<<I...would not know where to go…I have no one other than my father…>>

He breaks eye contact for mere seconds, then he comes back looking in my eyes.

<<You have me>>

I stare at him shocked.

<<What?>>

<<You could come with me, no one would harm you, you would not be in danger, you could do everything you wish to do, no one would force you to do things you do not want to do…>>

<<A-are you speaking seriously?>>

He nods with a sweet smile holding gently my hands. Looking better at his face I notice some ash on his cheeks, and on his cape there is dirt and some dark red stains.

<<What happened to you?>>

He cleans a cheek with a hand, looks at his cape and laughs lightly.

<<I should have not shown up in this state…>>

I look at him puzzled. He sighs.

<<I just came back from a battle…I am my sir Kain's first lieutenant. I am a warrior>>

My eyes go wide and I let go of his hands.

<<The rain hampered us, we did not expect it…but we evenly came out as winners>>

<<A b-battle? Versus who?>>

<<Against the Sarafan warriors, vampire hunters>>

Sarafan? I knew of their existence, but I thought they were priests only.

<<Y-you are not hurt, are you?>>

It is the first question that’s crosses my mind. But why? He looks at me astonished, then he takes a deep breath and shakes his head.

<<They did nothing to me, the rain has been a problem, but we made it thanks to the woods>>

<<The rain?>>

<<Water for us vampires is acidic: it burns us, consumes us>>

My glance become terrorized.

<<This is the reason why I did not visit you yesterday evening…battle’s fault…and rain’s>>

He says it jokingly, but he is not able to make me smile like he wanted to.

<<I do not risk to lose you…right?>>

My eyes are filling again with tears, he brings me closer by the waist and kisses my forehead>>

<<Do not worry, my lady. There is a reason for me being the first lieutenant>>

He smiles, but that smile becomes quickly a serious and melancholy frown.

<<I am the one risking of losing you>>

My heart sinks. He is right. Other than being promised to another man, I am mortal too. He, on the contrary, is not.

<<Can I ask you something?>>

<<Sure, my lady>>

I am a little shameful, but curious too.

<<How old are you?>>

He does not answer immediately, he thinks a little about it, then he answers me almost embarrassed.

<<Uhm…some hundreds…>>

What??

<<But if we look at my appearance…maybe twentyfive, more or less…>>

And I complained about that man the evening before…wow. I am speechless.

<<I am old…yes>>

He tears me a laugh

<<I would never say that>>

<<You? How old are you?>>

<<I am twenty, since a couple of months>>

<<You look younger. Did really no one asked for your hand before?>>

I shake my head.

<<My father never let me to go outside or see anyone. I have no friends. I rarely go out just to breathe fresh air…I have the permission to go just on the balcony of my room…>>

<<It is a pity, a flower of this beauty should not be hidden>>

He fonldes my visage, fire seems cold in comparison with my cheeks.

<<You are so cute when blushing>>

I drop my gaze embarrassed, but he takes my chin and turns my face towards him. His eyes seem burning like lit torches. My legs tremble and I lay my arms on him, my breath comes almost to a stop when I see his face nearing mine. My eyes flutter close when his dark, cold lips touch mine. His hand, that was under my chin, goes light on my neck, then the shoulder and than on my back, giving me a shiver that pushes me towards him. I feel my legs abandon me, but he promptly picks me up and lays me on the bed sitting beside me. Another kiss before being interrupted by a muffled and embarrassing rumbling coming from my stomach.

<<It has not be a good idea not to eat today…>>

<<You did not feed?>>

I shake my head embarrassed.

<<This is why you are so weak>>

<<I am locked here by myself since yesterday evening…and I did not even finish dinner>>

He kisses my forehead again.

<<Wait for me here>>

He stands and goes to the window. He vanishes for some minutes, then he comes back with some red apples and sits again. I eat one feeling already better. They are juicy and remove hunger and thirst.

<<Thank you, Raziel>>

<<I would do anything for you, my lady>>

My red cheeks attract him like a moth with the flame, and his lips lean on mine, wet by the apple juice. When he goes lightly back and licks the side of his mouth, it causes me a strong shiver and I istinctively turn to look away biting my lower lip. His laugh makes me shrink in my shoulders. He takes one hand and kisses the tip of my fingers.

<<Do you still have the pendant I gifted you?>>

<<I would never let anyone touch it>>

I get off the bed and go to the wardrobe, I dig through the dresses and take the jewel case. I open it and pull out the necklace. The vampire stands once again and gets near, takes the case and put it on the desk.

<<Would you allow me?>>

He takes the thin chain from my hand, makes me turn and put it on. While he hooks it, he lays his lips between the neck and the ear making me shiver and throw my head backwards with a whine. His arms wrap around my body and pull me to him that begins to go down, leaving a trail of kisses on the neck and shoulder.

<<R-Raziel...>>

<<My lady?>>

<<If I decided to join you…what would happen then?>>

He stops and lets me turn to look at him.

<<Well…where I live there are only vampires: my brothers, their mates, Kain, our soldiers…there are only a few humans, but they are slaves or...bloodslaves...>>

I can already guess what he is going to say, but even if I will have to suffer to stay with him, I do not care.

<<You will have to become one of us, otherwise you would risk your life. I should have said it earlier…>>

His glance drops, like one of a beaten puppy. I stroke his cheek and kiss him gently.

<<I would do anything to stay with you and suffer no more. Even if it will be painful, I want to do it>>

He gazes at me and smiles, than sqweezes me in a hug. I wrap my arms around his chest, but twitch when I sense the ribbon of my dress being untied.

<<W-what are you doing?>>

I try to get away, but his hug is too tight. I am purple with embarrassment. He loosens the ribbon to make my dress slip on my shoulders and kiss again those spots that he descovered being sensible. My head falls aside, I can not rebel, it is stronger than me. My body wants to feel the touch of his cold lips again and again. I try to hold back my moans, even if some get past my lips and raise the impetuosity with which he makes me his. But when he tries to undress me I manage to make him stop.

<<R-Raziel…please, no!>>

I succeed in getting away, red in face like the apples he brought me. He looks at me with wide eyes, like neither he knows what he was doing.

<<...I…apologize…I do not know what got into me…really. Forgive me>>

He is a vampire, but it seems that it has been awoken that human part that is in him and it freed the wish of lust.

<<I…uhm…do not want something to go wrong…>>

I do not want to be straight, but from his glance I guess he understands what I mean.

<<Nothing can go wrong. Fortune, or misfortune that it is, we vampires are sterile. To reproduce we have to turn humans in vampires with the “dark gift”…and it will be the one I will use to turn you, if you ever accept my offer>>

I do not know what to answer, I bend my head and stare at the floor, grasping the pendant with a hand. He comes closer and takes my hands.

<<I let myself be carried away to quickly, I am so sorry>>

<<I-It does not matter...It is fine>>

He kisses my forehead and goes to the window.

<<Raziel?>>

He turns and looks at me. I go to him, get on my tip toes and lay my lips on his black ones, receiving a caress and another sweet kiss.

<<Goodnight Niah. Rest well>>

<<I will try….goodnight>>

One last caress and the vampire goes away. I close the windows, hide the pendant and the jewel case, change in the nightgown and go to bed, thinking again of his offer.

What would will happen if I accepted? Yes, I would go with him, I would become like him and stay with him forever. But what will my father think? And the man he promised me to? Probably they would search for me just for business. What a nerve. How I wish they just let me be, in peace, forgot about me and let me make my choices.


	5. "Well awaited" guests

That morning is the servant that awakens me, telling me that I have to get ready for the arrival of guests. I already know who they can be. And, “strangely”, my father is at home. I dress up and fix myself, then I go downstairs and quickly have breakfast.

<<Niah, could you please come here?>>

It is my father. I believe he is still angry since the evening before. He is at the door, so I think that the fateful guests arrived. I go to the entrance fixing my dress.

<<My child, this is Philip, the man who works with me>>

The gentleman in front of me, still outside the door, nods his head in greeting, I respond with a bow. The man slides letting come forward a tall guy, blonde, dark eyes, dressed in a way that could not be more elegant, and eccentric, that takes my hand, kneels and kisses the tip of my fingers.

<<Miss Niah, this is my younger son, Erik>>

The…ehm…guy stands and looks straight in my eyes.

<<It is an honour>>

Disgusted, but without getting noticed, I retract my hand and bring it behind my dress and wipe it.

<<The pleasure is mine>>

Even if it is not at all. My father said “charming”. Sincerely, I would prefer a dog.

<<Niah? Why do you not go for a walk with Erik downtown, while Philip and I talk for a bit?>>

Erik extends an arm, but I walk past it ignoring him. I walk down the market street followed by…that guy.

<<Uhm…well…Niah, can I call you just by this?>>

<<Do as you like>>

I do not even look at him in the face. I continue walking watching ahead, keeping my hands closed and folded behind me. The weather is cloudy, enough to complitely cover the sun. I look for a sign, any sign, that could warn me of _his_ presence.

<<Niah? I see you absent, is everything all right?>>

I am so desperate in _his_ search that I did not listen to him.

<<Forgive me Erik, I did not sleep well last night and I feel a bit tired. I did not listen to a word you said, sorry>>

<<Oh, it is not a problem. I was just saying that it would be a perfect day for a walk if it was not so cloudy>>

<<Not for me…>>

I say it almost whispering trying to not be heard.

<<Did you say something?>>

<<Just that I prefer that there is not too much sun, I do not like to stay outside and I struggle to keep my eyes open with too much light>>

<<Well, if I may, you have really beautiful eyes>>

<<Thank you>>

His compliments do not have the same effect of _his_.

<<Niah, please, slow down>>

I have quickened my steps without noticing.

<<What is it? Do you have short legs?>>

<<N-no but>>

I feel a certain pleasure in treating him this way, and an almost evil grin slips on my lips.

<<Niah, please, do not- woo-!>>

A whiffle of wind behind me, a cold touch on the neck, a thud. A shiver goes down my back, Erik groans and I smile again, this time maybe with a little redness on my cheeks. I turn around like nothing happened.

<<What happened? How did you fall?>>

<<I t-think I strumbled>>

He stands back up and dustes off his clothes, then he comes beside me and we continue our walk. Back at home, my father welcomes us with a smile. So strange. They make us sit down at the kitchen table.

<<Niah, Erik. Philip and I have decided the date of your wedding!>>

I almost hit the table with a knee, but I hold back and stay serious. Erik is otherwise exalted.

<<Really? When will it be?>>

<<Next week>>

Panic. What? Next week already?!

<<Niah, are you not happy?>>

I tighten my fists, risking to ruin my dress.

<<A-are you sure? Is it not a bit early?>>

<<Early? It is already too late! Tomorrow preparations will begin!>>

I stand up before he could finish his sentence, I make a light bow and go to my room with big steps. I do not intend to stay in these “well awaited” guests presence a minute more. I lock my door, so no one can enter and disturb me. I try to hold back a frustrated scream building up in my throat and tears in my eyes. I sit on the bed and sink my face in the pillow, take a deep breath, then let out my lungs in a shout smothered by the feathers.

<<Niah? Are you all right?>>

The twenty-seven years old guy tries to enter but the door is locked.

<<Can we talk? Please>>

<<Go away. I wish not to see anyone>>

<<But, miss->>

<<I said go away!>>

A few seconds of silence. Then him again.

<<Fine. I tried to be nice with you, but you ignored me all the time and did not give me a break. Your father told mine about your behavior and I tried to get along with you but nothing. Everything is already settled! You can not rebel! Next week we will marry, and you will pay for this insult!>>

<<Try to even twist me a hair and I will end my life!>>

<<You are just a spoiled little girl!>>

Spoiled?!

I get up and open the door.

<<Spoiled? You do not know me in the slightest! My father is a liar! You do not know how I live here! You can not say I am spoiled! You are the one being spoiled!>>

I try to slap him but he catches my arm. He pushes me on the bed and block me by the wrists.

<<Let me go!!>>

He gets near with his face, I turn mine to not let him win this and I knee him…well…right there. He stands and cowers, I run to the windows and go out in the balcony. I look around in vain. It it still cloudy but the sun is coming out of his hiding place.

<<Oh no…>>

I feel Erik’s grip on my wrist again and he turns me around blocking me on the edge.

<<You can not run. We will be bound to one another. Till death do us part>>

He nears once more, I try to send him away but I am not successful. I close my eyes. Nothing happens. Just a thud. I open my eyes again and see a familiar silhouette standing in front of the laying idiot on the floor. He came out despite the sun. Erik’s terrorized face almost makes me laugh.

<<W-who are you??>>

Raziel extends a hand to me and I go to him taking it and letting him kiss mine.

<<My pleasure, I am death>>

Erik goes pale seeing the vampire smiling.

<<You do not mind if I part you already from now, do you?>>

He wraps an arm around my waist getting me near him and I rest my head on his shoulder. Getting up trembling, Erik unsheathes his Gladius and aims at Raziel’s chest.

<<Y-yes I do! She is my future wife!>>

<<To a man like you? Do not make me laugh. Niah deserves better, someone who can make her truly happy>>

He gives me a sweet glance, takes my hand and kisses it again.

<<D-do not touch her!>>

I almost pity him. He is standing there and tries to intimidate my protector. Raziel becomes suddenly serious.

<<Listen here, kid. It is better for you to put that little knife away, you risk to hurt yourself>>

<<H-how dare you talk to me like that? I am a high rank man! You have to respect me!>>

<<Respect a spoiled kid who cries when not given what he wants? I will not lower to that level>>

Erik’s face goes in flames, he charges and attacks Raziel.

<<NO!!>>

I close my eyes. I do not sense his arm around me. The only thing I hear is Erik’s voice. But not in a positive tone. When I open my eyes again I see the Gladius on the floor, a hurting Erik and Raziel blocking the others arm behind his back.

<<You are risking a lot, kid>>

He tightens his grip and Erik falls to his knees. I notice a dark red streak on Raziel’s chest. Erik managed to cut him.

<<Dear and “fearless” guy, it is not convenient for you to make me angry. You could hit me just because of an inadvertentcy of mine. I do not need that much strength to snap your arm. But I will not do it. Now you take your Gladius, go out of here and tell no one of this. Try to disobey, and you will find yourself with two holes on your neck and bleeding your life out. Did I make myself clear?>>

Erik nods almost in tears and Raziel lets him go to get near me again.

<<Raziel, are you all right?>>

I brush the cut with my fingers, but I do not have the time to go nearer that it disappears.

<<Do not worry, my lady. I did not even feel it>>

He smiles and caresses me.

<<It is not a thing to worry about>>

He kisses my forehead, but just as he steps away I hear a battle cry coming from behind him. I see a grimace on his face. A blade comes out from his stomach. And blood. My eyes go wide from the horror and I lean on the little sofa of the window. I feel myself faint.

<<…this is…a little heavier>>

Raziel turns and hits Erik with an elbow. The he slips the gladius off like nothing happened. Erik is even whiter than before. The vampire licks the blade and his eyes shine so much that you could see them in absolute dark. The wound heals itself and Erik whines like a beaten dog.

<<Our friend wants to play…well, know that I have never lost, nor hide and seek, nor tag>>

Raziel throws the Gladius at mere inches from the blond’s cheek and sticking it on the wall. My “future husband” backs away until he meets the wall and tries to remove the sword. The vampire gets near him and lifts him by his shirt with one hand. Erik has wet streaks on the cheeks and terror in his eyes.

<<I will repeat this only one more time. Now you recompose yourself, go away and tell nothing to no one. Made. Myself. Clear?>>

<<C-clear…c-crystalline>>

Raziel throws him out of the room with his Gladius and closes the door.

<<I believe he will not disturb you anymore>>

He comes back to me with a smile and helps me stand from the sofa.

<<I am so sorry you had to attend to this->>

I do not let him finish, I just throw myself in his arms, wrapping mine around his neck quivering. He hugs me back and caresses me trying to calm me down.

<<Do not be afraid. I only hope he will do as I said, otherwise…I will find him>>

I back up slightly to look him in the eyes and, as an answer, I receive a cold kiss from his black and soft lips.

<<You came out despite the sun…someone could have seen you...>>

<<I could not let you in his clutches. I saw his behaviors in the past days. I heard your father talking with a man, during the walk back home from work, a couple days ago, and I made sure to be present at the “event”>>

<<I do not know how to thank you enough for saving me, risking to get spotted>>

<<You do not have to thank me>>

He takes my chin and gives me another kiss.

<<It is enough for me to know that you are unharmed>>

I follow the movement of his hand when he strokes my visage and I see him smile.

<<I t-thought he wounded you badly…>>

<<You forget my nature, my dear>>

A shiver shakes me at the memory of the injury. I look at the floor, no tracks of blood.

<<...wh…what…>>

A little laugh.

<<I told you, there is nothing to worry about. The only tracks we leave are corpses or, simply…these>>

He brushes a hand on my shoulder lowering a bit my dress and looking at the bite he left a few days ago.

<<Does it still hurt?>>

<<No, no more>>

He kisses me on the almost scar giving me a shiver. His lips are so soft, but so cold. By instinct, I let my head fall to the side when I feel his kisses climb up my neck. I hear him laugh when I let out a trembling and soft wail.

<<You have such soft skin…>>

He gives my cheek a little bite without leaving signs, then he turns my face towards him and drags me in another sweet kiss. I hear heavy steps coming running from downstairs.

<<Oh no…my father!>>


	6. Decision

The door slams open and father enters, enraged.

<<What happened with Erik?! He was paler than a corp->>

Upon seeing Raziel, he freezes.

<<Niah... who is he? And what is he doing in your room?>>

He is infuriated. He already was before, now, seeing me with someone he does not know, it is even worse.

<<F-father… he is Raziel and->>

<<How long have you known him?>>

He talks to me as if Raziel was not here. Fear lances through me.

<<A f-few days…>>

<<And when did you go out? You know you have no permission to. Especially alone!>>

There it is. He always prevented me to go out, and I begin to think that it was just to force me in an arranged marriage and to keep me to get to know someone. Despicable.

<<You have never allowed me to go outside… not even for a walk… just to make me obey you, to make me do whatever you wanted… and now you want me to get married to the one _you_ want, just because you think he is perfect. But you know what? I am tired of all this>>

<<What? How dare you?? I am your father! You cannot dare to talk to me like that!!>>

<<If you were a good father you would have let me be, you would have let me go outside and get to know someone on my own! But you were so busy with your business that I am sure that what you organized is just a marriage for your own interests!>>

My father takes the leather belt, make it snap once on the floor and then he aims it at me. I close my eyes covering myself with my arms, but I am not the one that takes the hit. Raziel has blocked the belt, letting it wrap around his arm.

<<Step aside, Raziel. These are not matters that concern you>>

<<Oh, where your daughter is concerned, I am as well>>

I hide behind him peeking out from his shoulder.

<<How dare you?! You have no right to protect her!>>

<<And you have no right to cause her wounds and pain>>

<<I am her father! I can do whatever I want!>>

<<You are so wrong>>

Raziel rips the belt from my father’s hand with a yank.

<<I have no intention to leave Niah in your hands and leave her to suffer>>

His eyes brighten and his teeth become more visible. The sky becomes cloudy once more, but it is darker than a few hours ago and his eyes seem more bright. In my father’s eyes there is only fear. I have never seen him like this.

<<Raziel…>>

I touch his arm and look him in the eyes.

<<...do not hurt him…>>

The unnatural light in his eyes fades and he turns back to normal.

<<I cannot refuse when you look at me with those eyes>>

He kisses my forehead under my father’s paralized gaze.

<<I do not want to be like him and cause him temporary wounds, like he did to me…>>

Raziel looks at me confused.

<<...I want to come with you. Take me away with you>>

His eyes go wide in surprise, then he smiles and hugs me.

<<Are you sure?>>

<<N-Niah...I will not let you. Get away from that man>>

<<Yes, Raziel. I am. I want to leave this place>>

<<Niah! I said get away!>>

I turn to my father.

<<From now on, I will not listen to you anymore! You did nothing but make me suffer, ever since mum died! Since that day I have hated you more and more! But I am at my limit! Forget about me, I am going away!!>>

My face red, when I run out of breath, a deep silence falls upon us.

<<…I am sorry for you, “good man”>>

Raziel nears me and moves the dress on my shoulder.

<<She is already mine>>

My father’s eyes widen even more and his jaw drops. He remains paralized while I take a bag and carefully fill it with some of my dresses. I would come back to get the rest.

<<No… you cannot do this to me… Niah, I forbid you>>

I pretend not to hear. My father tries to grab my arm but Raziel blocks him.

<<Did you not hear her? She does not want to have anything to do with you anymore>>

His eyes shine and my father whitens.

<<...vampire… how could you…>>

<<I did nothing… but spare your daughter’s life>>

<<You… you cannot take her from me>>

Raziel takes a few steps away, spreading his arms.

<<I am not the one forcing her, I would never>>

Meanwhile I take the jewel case and search for the pendant, then I go to Raziel and he puts it around my neck.

<<Do not touch her, damned creature!>>

Raziel sends him a death glare making him shut up. I put the jewel box in the bag and close it.

<<It is useless to try. I will not stay>>

<<W-well… if you go… I will not accept you back anymore. I will not recognize you as my daughter!>>

<<You never did. You always ignored me, unless you wanted something. You always lived like I did not exist, rather you treated me like an exchange object>>

He falls to his knees. He is trembling. And in vengeance, I near Raziel and hug him, look at him and sweetly kiss him. In front of his eyes. I have never felt this good in my whole life. Such pleasure.

<<Do not worry, I will take care of her, from now on>>

He caresses my cheek and moves my hair behind an ear.

<<And Niah, you do not need to worry about anything. No one and nothing will ever harm you>>

Another kiss. Deeper. My father sobs. I step closer to him, looking from above.

<<I pity you. I thought you had no emotions if not anger. Go away. I want you to go outside my room and never come in anymore. Close the door and throw away the key. Forget me>>

I go back to Raziel while he stands looking in the void, serious. In the doorway he looks at me again.

<<Then… goodbye, my child>>

His. Child. In an instinct of rage, I take the knife from Raziel’s hip and throw it at the door, missing him for mere inches. When he closes the door in panic, I let out a low growl in frustration. Then I hear the click of the lock.

<<…nice shot…>>

I take a deep breath and go retrieve the dagger.

<<Not as nice as I hoped>>

He smiles and takes it back. Then he fixes my hair.

<<Niah, if you do not mind, I would like to come back this evening with my brothers to take all of your things>>

<<There are no problems. Just…>>

<<Yes?>>

An ambiguous rumbling from my stomach. Raziel laughs and takes a little bag from behind him, opens it, takes two apples and gives them to me. Like those of a few evenings ago.

<<Thank you Raziel>>

<<It is nothing. But… please, block the door. I do not trust that man>>

I look at the exit, take a chair and stick it under the doorknob.

<<Forgive me for making you wait>>

<<I understand, do not worry. You cannot take me outside with sunlight. Someone could easily see us>>

He sighs, smiling.

<<Beautiful, kind and smart. I could not possibly find anyone better>>

I look away blushing, making him laugh. He hugs me and kisses me on the forehead.

<<It is better for me to go. I do not want the sun to come out again>>

<<I will wait hoping that this evening arrives quickly>>

He smiles again and gives me another kiss, causing me the umpteenth sweet shiver. I will never grow tired of this feeling. I walk with him to the balcony, then he jumps on the rooftop in front of us and disappears. I see the servant in the garden. I tell her to find other bags for me and I make her throw them at me. I do not know if my father really threw the key away, but I do not want to risk. I fill them too until I have emptied the wardrobe of the summer dresses. They are big, bulky. Having no more bags, I sit at the desk and begin to draw. I wish I could bring my drawings and things with me, but I have no more room.

I fall asleep on the wooden surface without noticing. I am awakened by a pair of cold lips on my temple.

<<You fell asleep, my lady>>

It is dark outside. I rub my sleepy eyes and he smiles, then moves aside to introduce me to five… “men” that are following him.

<<Brothers, she is the girl I talked you about. Niah, they are my brethren. Dumah, Turel, Rahab, Zephon and Melchiah>>

I stand from the chair fixing my dress and bow slightly. They have all different emblems. The cloaks have different colors too.

<<Did you prepare everything?>>

<<Clara did not find other bags. I only took the light dresses and the jewel case, I have no space for anything else>>

Raziel looks around and sees a large chest.

<<What do you keep in there?>>

<<I do not know…it is locked and I do not have the key>>

<<Can we open it?>>

I nod, Raziel nods at Dumah, who breaks the lock and opens the container. Some little paintings and portraits. They are my mother’s. She too liked drawing, and she had a portrait painted of herself and a baby. Me. She was so beautiful, with her light eyes and long brown hair in a nice braid. I sense a knot in my throat.

<<Niah? Are you feeling well?>>

I sigh and nod.

<<This is my mother…and these are her works…>>

I feel a caress on my visage, Raziel crouched near me.

<<Are you sure everything is fine?>>

<<Yes…I just…miss her so much…>>

I get up and lay the painting on the bed, placing the drawings around it. I empty the chest and fill it with other dresses.

<<Niah, if you will decide to become one of us soon, you will not need winter clothes. We do not suffer heat or cold>>

Hearing this I feel relieved. I remove the heavy dresses and put my things in the container. Then a thought jumps in my mind. If vampires can not touch water, how they do wash their things? When I ask them, they look at me and Rahab, almost laughing.

<<Strangely, but luckily, he does not burn touching water>>

<<Your luck, my misfortune>>

His voice sounds annoyed and I laugh a bit.

<<But we can get new one if necessary>>

New clothes? It has been a long time since I bought new dresses. Besides not being able to go out, I always kept mine and my mum’s well.

Finished to pack everything, the brothers divide the bags between them, one or two each, and Dumah takes the chest. Probably, he is the strongest of them. Then I am lifted from the floor.

<<So, are you ready?>>

I embrace Raziel’s shoulders and nod. He smiles and goes to the balcony, followed by the other vampires.

<<Hold on tight>>

He takes the momentum and jumps on the house ahead. Wow, we are so high. The wind envelops us completely when he starts running. He is so fast that I can not see the start nor the end of the houses. At one point we find ourself in a vast plain with some trees here and there. The only company was the one of the waning crescent moon surrounded by stars. After a while I see a castle in the distance. It is enormous, some rods let red banners with a white symbol hang, the symbol different from Raziel’s or his brothers’. It must be Kain’s, their master. We stop before gigantic gates that open with a not really reassuring sound. Raziel lands me and extends an arm for me. I take it and we go in.

Enormous on the outside, enormous on the inside. Built with big whitish stones, there are some torches here and there to make some light. We enter in a circular room where there is a raised stone plate with a black circle, gold lines and strange letters and very tall, broken and greyish columns. The Pillars of Nosgoth. I recognize them by the colored stripes I saw in an old book. Between them, under the balance Pillar, there is a golden throne. On it sits a man with long white hair, his greenish skin is cracked and he is very muscular. He too has the cloak on his right shoulder and dark pants, but he has something different. He does not wear boots, his feet are no longer like human’s: he wears black and gold armor shin guards, but he no longer has five toes, but two thick grey-greenish claws. And his hands are similar, covered by armor from the wrist to the forearm and with three thick orange claws. And between those claws he holds the hilt of a sword with a blade formed by multiple curves, a skull with long canines on the cuff that radiates a sinister energy. A shiver of fear goes down my back. Raziel nods at his brethren, who disappear with my luggage.

<<Kain, father, we are back>>


	7. A new beginning

<<We are back>>

<<I know, Raziel, I see it. Is it her, the girl?>>

<<Yes, she is>>

Kain makes a gesture hinting us to walk near him while he stands from the throne. I find myself in front of him. He is tall. His yellow eyes inspect me from head to toes.

<<Your name is Niah, right?>>

<<Y-yes, sir>>

He looks at me a few seconds more.

<<You smell a lot like humans. If you will remain here, you will get used to my rules and our habits>>

<<It will soon be done>>

I try to stay calm, but his eyes and his voice make me feel uneasy.

<<Very well. Raziel, make sure to show her all the areas of the empire where she can and the ones where she cannot roam. You are dismissed>>

He turns and walks away.

<<Wow, he did not complain>>

<<What?>>

<<Usually he is not this…permissive?>>

I have a vision of him staring at me. Another shiver.

<<Come with me, my lady. I will show you your new home>>

He gives me his arm again and escorts me to the highest point of the kingdom to see how it extends and which are the borders of the clans territories. Only two areas are forbidden to me, Kain’s retreat and the deeper dungeons of the clans. And I have no intentions to wander there. Those are the darkest zones of the realm. Last, but not least, Raziel shows me his clan’s area, to the west from the lake of the dead, and in the end, his room. A big room with a canopy bed in the center, two wardrobes and a desk, everyting rigorously decorated in red and with his symbol. By now, i have learned to recognize his emblem. The problem is to learn the other ones. Fortunately they have different colors and i can link them to those. Kain’s banners are red too, but his symbol is easier to remember. I see the chest and the bags already empied, the door of one of the wardrobes is half opened and lets show my dresses.

<<Wow, so much order>>

My belongings are placed on a portion of the desk.

<<Wait just a moment…this is…your room?>>

<<Exactly>>

<<…d-do you mean that I will sleep with you?>>

<<Does it annoy you?>>

It would be my first time sleeping with someone. It is strange for me. Raziel moves apart and takes off his cloak and shouder pads. I go to the window between the bed and wardrobe and look at the sky. The moon is right there. Some bats fly through the trees and move the leafs. I feel Raziel wrap his hands around my waist from behind, I close my eyes and lay my head on his shoulder and my hands on his ones. Starting from under my ear, he leaves a streak of kisses on the neck and half a shoulder. I bring a hand on his cheek, he brings one of his to the ribbon of my dress and unties it.

<<Are you tired? Do you want to change?>>

I am going to answer when I suddenly remember one thing. I was so taken in thinking of the dresses and the things on my desk that i forgot a little thing.

<<Oh no…I have left my night gown back at home…>>

I hear him laugh, and this time is not a good thing.

<<We can go retrieve it tomorrow, if you want>>

Tomorrow? And tonight? A shiver of fear and embarassment takes over me when I understand what he intends to do. In the mean time, he has already widened the ribbon, so much that the dress could fall on his own. I turn towards him and he brings me closer by the waist. I stare at him in the eyes. His gaze is full of desire and I let him slip off my dress while he envelops me in a deep kiss and leaves me just in my petticoat. Then he lifts me, lays me on the bed and crawls above me. I can sense his desire tremble in his cold body and I have the confermation when he kisses me repeatedly on the lips, on the neck, on the collarbone and on the chest, until he takes off the petticoat too.

Lust is one of the seven deadly sins, my punishment would have come after my death, but I don’t care. I will not die definetly. I will become like Raziel, a vampire. There will not be hell waiting for me, not for now at least. Waiting for me there will be an eternity to live with him. And the first night of passion passses by, maybe too quickly. I fall asleep wrapped in the sheets and in his strong arms, caressed by his cold hands.

That night i dream something strange. I see again my mother in a dark woodland, then blood, his corpse. And my father with a bloody knife. He walks to me but I wake up before he could hit me. I shoot in a sitting position, keeping the sheets tight in my hands almost in tears. A sunbeam shines on the red blanket. When I see where I am, I calm down.

<<It was just a nightmare…just…a nightmare…>>

Without getting too bare, i retrieve my clothes and put them on. I notice that the spot beside me is empty.

<<Who knows how much he is awake…where could he be?>>

I open slightly the door and look ouside. It seem there is no living soul. I walk through the room to get used earlier to my new life. I notice a french window on the opposite side of the entrance. I go outside and a light breeze wraps around me, matched with new perfumes and the chirping of the sparrows on the trees. This side of the clan mansion is shadowed and the balcony is in the highest floor. In the “garden” I can see soldiers in a reddish armor, engaged in a training watched by their red cloaked clan master. I watch them for a bit, after a few minutes they stop, but I see them tubulent. Some of them turns towards me, I can sense their killer looks. Raziel raises his gaze, than calls his soldiers back to order. I can not hear their voices, but I believe he ordered them to not move. Then he jumps from balcony to balcony, from the first floor to the top, landing beside me. He bows and takes my hand, laying a light kiss on it.

<<Good morning, my beautiful nocturnal flower>>

A flush of heat infuses itself in my cheeks.

<<I am not as beautiful as you say…>>

He smiles and kisses my forehead.

<<Pale and beautiful as a moonbeam and charming as the night itself>>

Another flush and a cold kiss oppose on my visage.

<<Are you hungry?>>

<<N-no…I am fine>>

<<Are you sure? Well then, I will join you at midday with something to eat. Could you wait for me here?>>

<<Sure, no problems>>

He smiles again, brings me near by the waist and kisses me, then he goes back to his soldiers jumping down directly from the balcony we are on. I go back inside and sit at the desk. Raziel’s brothers have taken some paper, my ink and my pen from the chest and have placed them there when they emptied my luggages. I start drawing something, without taking notice of the time passing. I get awakened from my trance by some nails brushing the back of my neck.

<<As promised, some fresh fruit freshly picked for my lady>>

He places a bowl with some apples, peaches, strawberries and apricots.

<<Thank you, Raziel>>

He picks a strawberry and feeds me, leaving me surprised.

<<Well?>>

<<…delicious>>

<<Your eyes are shining,I knew you would like them>>

I eat some apricots while he looks at my works.

<<You are very talented, they are really nice>>

<<U-uh? N-no…I do not belive to be that good>>

<<In my opinion, you are, and I will never deny it>>

He kisses my temple making me almost choke on the bite. I hear him laugh and my cheeks catch fire again.

<<I will never get tired to see you blush>>

He sits on the desk and watches ouside. The sun is turning and soon the rookies will not be able to stay on that side of the territory.

<<Did you sleep well tonight?>>

<<Yes, your bed is really comfortable>>

An embarassed smile get painted on my lips in memory of that night.

<<Niah, Kain does not want humans in our reign, if not for feeding or as slaves…>>

A shiver goes through me, but I know what he is going to say.

<<I understand, but it does not matter, I want to become one of you>>

He looks surprised.

<<Are you sure? This early? You can wait a few more days and->>

<<I suppose it will be painful, but I want to do it>>

He takes my hand and brings it to his lips.

<<You know I do not wish to cause you any pain. But if this is what you want, I will not hesitate to grant your wish>>


	8. Finally, one of them

Here it comes, the fateful day. Everything in me tingles in restlessness, and maybe in fear too. I do not know how this works and what their intentions are, but Raziel still continues to reassure me.

<<I will watch over you all the time. No one will touch you, only I will be there with you>>

He hugs and caresses me sweetly. It seems to me that I could almost feel some heat in his body.

<<Are you ready? If you changed your mind we can postpone it>>

<<No…I want to do it now…I do not want to wait any longer>>

He smiles sweetly and kisses my forehead, then extends his arm and walk me to an enormous circular room. It reminds me of a crypt, with an high bed in the center, obtained by a plain rock. Around the bed, seven feet apart it, there are all Raziel’s brethren and, in front of the headboard, Kain. A shiver goes through me and I tighten my hand on Raziel’s arm.

<<Do not be afraid…no one will harm you>>

It is not easy to stay calm with six vampires staring at you and one that tries to comfort you. My legs begin to tremble, my heart quicken and my vision goes blurry.

<<Niah? Niah is everything fine?>>

Raziel tries to shake me. But nothing. The last thing I remember is Kain’s almost surprised gaze and someone saying to postpone the turning, but Raziel says no.

<<She wants to do it now. She wants no more delays>>

Then, darkness. Around me there is only emptyness. I have no idea how much I stayed there. A little time before waking up, I feel tingling in every part of my body and an high pitched buzz in my ears. I feel like floating, like in a dream. I see red under me. Then a light, a familiar silhouette comes closer. A Soul Reaver, this is the name Raziel gave to Kains sword, but with different colors. The hilt and the skull are the same of the original one, but the blade is dark like covered in pitch, the borders and the central line are white. The sword is getting near parallel to me, I touch it and it dissolves, like I have absorbed it and a strange warm feeling pervades me.

Then darkness once more. Slowly I feel my sensibility coming back. My hands are laying one on the other on my womb. They are cold, I do not know if more or less than before. I sense no one’s presence. I open my eyes, I see the light of the torches reflect on the ceiling. I get up and sit, leaving my legs dangle down the side of the bed. I am alone. Looking around, I notice that the light of the torches is more intense, almost annoying, maybe because I have been asleep for some quite time. I take a deep breath, the air in the crypt seems heavy. I hear some noise coming from the entrance and I turn around quickly. I hear steps and something being dragged on the floor wailing.

<<I beg you! Let me go! I can’t not go back!! Don’t hurt me please!!>>

A rundown man falls from the stairs and slithers towards the center of the crypt, leaning on the side of the raised stone plate. Then Raziel enters and, seeing me awake, smiles and bows. I get off the bed keeping a hand on it, the man turns and looks at me.

<<Help me, please!!>>

His desperate gaze has no effect on me. The blood slips on his face, and it is the only thing that catches my eye. I can smell it, then a strange tingling makes its way in my throat. The man grabs me from my dress moving my attention to him and not to his blood.

<<I beg you, have mercy!>>

He is in tears, I almost pity him. Almost. I yank the skirt from his dirty hands and go to Raziel, he holds out a hand and takes mine kissing it.

<<Well awakened, my dear>>

I smile embarrassed, but I do not feel the heat on my cheeks.

<<You are paler than before, but you blush anyways. I like it>>

He caresses my cheek and I follow the movement with closed eyes. I hear a chocked whine from behind me.

<<You said you would not leave me alone…>>

<<I sensed you were waking up, so I thought I could bring you…your first meal>>

With a nod he points the “prey” that stares at me with wide eyes.

<<I believe I accidentally broke him a leg taking him here…I hope it will not displease you>>

I hear a drop of blood fall from the man’s forehead to the floor. It seems like I could see the heat he emanates.

<<Y-you are one of them…you are a monster too…>>

A shiver. My eyes go wide and I stare at him with a mix of rage, disgust and satisfaction.

<<A monster? Me, a monster? Uhm…I could get used to that>>

I walk to the man slowly, enjoying every step.

<<Stay away from me!!>>

<<You are not as nice as before…what a pity…I was thinking to spare you>>

He looks at me confused. Raziel nears me.

<<Are you serious?>>

I look at him and smile maliciously.

<<Absolutely…not>>

My body moves automatically, shooting itself to the man’s neck and I bite him. Just a scream. Then silence. When I get up there is just a little blood on the floor. A light heat spreads itself in all my limbs and the burning sensation in my throat disappears.

<<You drained him…and it is your first time…congratulations>>

He takes my hand and kisses the fingertips, cleaning them from the blood that slips down them.

<<You did not even get dirty. You are an excellent New Born>>

He turns my face to make me look at him, lays a hand on my cheek and cleans a little stream of blood under my lip with the thumb.

<<Your eyes are more beautiful and bright than before>>

Like enchanted, he comes closer and lays his lips on mine. We have the same temperature, I feel no more the coldness of his touch, but the shiver that he makes me feel is the same, if not intensified. He returns looking at me and smiles.

<<What do you say? Shall we go?>>

I turn to look at the lifeless body.

<<Do not worry. I will send someone to clean here>>

He kisses my cheek, then extends an arm and we go upstairs together. When we are in the clan’s sanctuary, I see Rahab leaning on a wall reading a book and Zephon sitting on the floor that tries to build a house of cards. When they sense our presence, they raise their head and look at us.

<<Wow…you have been quick>>

<<Do not be rude, Zephon. Well awakened, Niah, and welcome in our and your new world>>

I bow my head in greetings.

<<Thank you, Lord Rahab>>

<<No need to be so formal. From now on you will live here like one of us, you are no more a stranger>>

<<Oh…s-sure, as you wish>>

He nods and goes back to read. Zephon instead ignores us.

<<By the way…how much time did I stay…down there?>>

Outside is dark. I can hear the bells. It is midnight. Raziel thinks about it.

<<Uhm…more or less…twenty-eight hours>>

<<Twenty-eight? And is it a lot?

<<Not too much, you were alive. I would say it is a right amount of time>>

<<Do you mean that you do the turning to dead people too?>>

<<Hey…you smell of blood…could you _please_ go to change?>>

Zephon stares at me annoyed. Raziel tugs me lightly and accompanies me back to our chambers. While I am changing clothes, Raziel goes out on the balcony.

<<Rahab is right>>

<<Uh?>>

<<Now that you are one of us and you officially live here, you do not need to be too much formal…just with Kain>>

<<Uhm…maybe, yes>>

<<How do you prefer?>>

<<Uh? Well…yes…I felt more at home when Rahab told me that…a little less with Zephon…but I like it>>

I go out beside him when I am finished dressing up and lean with my back on the parapet.

<<Then we agree>>

He smile and gets near, laying his hands on my waist.

<<I would say so>>

I wrap my arms around his neck when he nears with his face and lays with his mouth on mine fon another kiss. I can still feel the softness of his lips and this makes me even happier. When he moves away, he turns to the door. Then he looks back at me.

<<Kain wants to see you>>


	9. Razielim

Before entering the throne chamber, I catch a glimpse of my reflection in a window. I am paler than before, the color of my eyes is brighter and the pupils are thinner, the color of my hair seems more vivid and, because of this, the dress seems darker. My lips are now a dark red, almost a purplish black, my canines are longer and sharper, and my nails are now black, long and edgy. I am one of them. Now I am sure of it.

<<I have absolutely no idea what Kain wants from us, but better be quick, he does not like to wait>>

We enter the room, like the first time. The scene is identical. The only thing that has changed it is me. I notice however a small table beside the throne with a rolled red cloth and a belt on it. I sense Raziel stiffen lightly. I sense a stranger presence too, but I see no one.

<<I see with pleasure that the turning has concluded successfully. And quickly.>>

Kain’s voice brings my attention back to him.

<<My sons told you what will happen, I immagine>>

<<No, my Sire, I told her nothing>>

<<Then the pleasure is mine>>

His gaze and the sound of his voice paralize me. What does he mean?

<<Now that you are one of us, you will undergo further transformations. We call them “evolutions”. As you see, I have no more complite human appearence, soon it will happen to my sons and, after them, their fledgings. You will endure them for last, being the latest New Born, but a lot of time will pass before it will happen>>

He turns to take the red cloth and gives it to me. When I get near him to take it, I see like a sparkle from the Soul Reaver leaning on the throne.

<<From now on you will be in Raziel’s clan, you will be a Razielim. You will learn how to fight and to defend yourself. And you will fight beside my first leutenant>>

I unbuckle the belt and extend the red cloak with Raziel’s symbol. I find out that, wrapped in the cloak, there is a scabbard with a sword.

<<But, Kain, she just finished her turning, you never said->>

<<I decided it during the transformation. She will fight with you. Niah, you will have a special treatment. You are not forced to train every day or with the other soldiers. But I want to see improvements soon>>

Raziel gives up and nods gloomy. I will have to fight. But why? Why did he change his mind?

<<Raziel, you will be the one to train ther>>

<<Yes, Sir>>

<<Very well. You are dismissed>>

We exit and go back to our room.

<<I can not believe he chenged his mind…I made sure it would not happen…damn it!>>

He punches the closet risking in making a hole on its door.

<<I did not want this…I did not want to put you at risk…I am so sorry Niah…>>

I lay the scabbard and the cloak on the desk, I near him and take his hands.

<<It does n-not matter…everything will be all right. If he changed his mind, maybe he saw something good in me…I think…and then, I am sure you are an excellent teacher>>

He looks at me worried, I smile trying to make him do the same, but nothing, he just looks away. I frame his face with my hands and make him look at me.

<<Hey…at least we can be together, right?>>

<<I do not want to risk in losing you>>

<<I have already told you. I want to stay with you, no matter how>>

Finally he lets escape a smile, wraps my waist and brings me closer for a kiss.

<<So? When will I begin, mister First Leutenant?>>

He tries to stay serious triyng to demolish my irony but, not managing to do it, he laughs and kisses me again.

<<Whenever you want, soldier>>

He lifts me and makes a spin, then he sits on the bed laying me on his lap.

<<It was a good thing that you were alive, so you now remember everything>>

<<Really? Were you alive too?>>

He shakes his head.

<<You mean…that you remember nothing of your past life…do you?>>

He denies again. He moves my hair and caresses me.

<<We noticed that if you get turned when you are alive, you remember your life, who is brought back to life remembers nothing>>

<<So…you can give them memories that not belong them…>>

<<But we do not do that. We remember them their names and train them. That is all>>

<<It must be sad not having a past…>>

<<Not so much. I do not remember my family, my friends, my life…but this way I do not remember if I have suffered or not. And I do not feel grudge for anyone. Kain brought me back to life and I vowed to serve him. I do not care about remembering my past>>

He seems sad, but he is sure of what he says. I kiss him on the cheek and smile. He moves me on the bed and stands to take off his shoulder pads. I can not look at him without getting embarassed. I hear him laugh and he sits beside me, giving my neck a soft kiss and caressing my back untill his hand reaches the ribbon of my dress. I let him undo it, and so another night with him passes by. My first night as one like him, one of them.

When I wake up, at mid afternoon, I see a note on his pillow. “It will be hard for you to fight in a dress, so I got you something. Look on the desk. R.” I walk to the wood surface after dressing up the minimum. An iron and dark leather armor is semi packed near the cloak and the sword given me by Kain. To complete everything, a red rose laying near there.

<<He is really fixated with notes and roses>>

With half a laugh I look better at the armor. It is complete of everything. And it is covers complitely, fortunately. I wear it and look myself in the mirror in the closet.

<<Not bad…a little heavy but I will get used to it, I can move perfectly…and pants are really confy>>

I put the cloak on a shoulder and buckle the belt with the scabbard on the waist.

<<Now it is complete>>

I exit the room and go to the shadowed part of the garden, where Raziel is training his younger soldiers. They are near the river and the sun is shortening the area with the shadow. I walk slowly going near them, without disturbing them. Raziel senses me and turns towards me smiling and waving me to approach him.

<<I like you more in a dress, but like this you are not bad at all>>

He makes me spin, then he introduces me to the others.

<<Soldiers, this is Niah, a new rookie. Under Kain’s orders, she will have a special treatment. I do not want to hear any objections or gripes>>

<<But she is a woman>>

Raziel shots a death glare to the babbler soldier.

<<It is _not_ my decision. Kain ordered her recruitement. You are not the only ones to have to obey to commands>>

All the men lower their heads in unison. Raziel tells me to stay on the sidelines and observe, so I go and sit on a nearby rock. During the training, a sword gets thrown in the air and it falls towards me. I jump aside, slipping. And falling in the river.


	10. Revelation

I feel the water cover me entirely and I panic. Vampires cannot touch water. I swim to the surface and quikly get out of the stream. Everyone is freezed, Raziel is shocked and paniced.

<<Niah!! Are you all right?? What the hell happened?!>>

He runs to me while I try to breathe and expel the water I inhaled.

<<I-I am fine…luckily I learned how to swim when I was a child…>>

He looks at me with wide eyes. Him like all of his soldiers. I am still wet, but I do not feel pain. I undo some armor pieces and let out the blocked water, then I squeeze the cloak and empty the scabbard.

<<…you are…like rahab and his fledgings…>>

<<What? What do you mean?>>

<<They are the only vampires who can touch water…remember?>>

<<S-sir, I apologize for my inadvertence, it will n-never happen again>>

Raziel stands and stares at him.

<<You are lucky my mate is still alive…otherwise you would have ended in the river too…go back to train! All of you!>>

He crouches one again and caresses me, but having my hair still wet he burnes his hand.

<<Carefu! You will hurt yourself, do not touch me! I am not dry yet…>>

<<You are right, forgive me…I am just anxious…are you sure you are fine?>>

<<Do not worry. I feel no pain, and I am whole>>

He takes a corner of his cloak and dries my face gently.

<<Go change clothes and stay inside. When I will come back I will ask Rahab for an armor for his soldiers, so it will be easier for you to swim if it will happen again>>

He kisses my cheek and goes back to his men, I get up and go to change, trying to drip as little as possible during the walk inside. Then I go to the common area of the clans where there is a library, deserted at the moment, and search for something to read. Just as I begin, the thought of what he said flashes in my mind. Mate? I can only imagine what color are my cheeks right now. After a while I sense someone presence behind me.

<<Wow, you can read?>>

<<Z-Zephon! I did not notice you here>>

<<Yes, of course>>

He sits beside me with the chair in reverse.

<<What are you doing here?>>

<<What do you mean? I am reading>>

<<Not in that sense. What are you doing here, with us? And by your own free will too>>

<<Well…lets just say that I was tired of my father and his behaviour…and Raziel offered me an escape away from that hell>>

<<This will be your new hell now>>

<<Everywhere is better then my father’s house, I assure you>>

He scans me from head to toes, then smirks evilly.

<<How was the water? Cold?>>

<<I did not feel it…but…wait…how did you know??>>

<<I know everything, minnow>>

He tries to touch my face but I step away.

<<M-minnow??>>

<<Hey hey, do not panic. But, rather…what do you have there?>>

I look at my shoulder and I see a little animal as big as an apricot with eight paws that climbs my dress.

<<Uh? A spider?>>

I let it walk on my hand and lay it in front of me on the table. Then i go back to look at Zephon than stares at me open mouthed.

<<…what?>>

<<…how…why did you not jump away in fear like every woman?>>

<<Why should I?>>

<<Everyone is scared by spiders!>>

<<Well…tarantulas are harmless if not bothered>>

Annoyed, the gray cloaked vampire takes the spider with him and goes away.

<<Wow…touchy>>

I retake my reading, untill other two silhouettes enter the room.

<<Raziel! Rahab!>>

<<Niah, I told Rahab what habbened and he already procured an armor of his kind>>

<<It is lighter and waterproof, so it will not soak and drown you>>

<<Thank you a lot, Rahab>>

<<I did nothing special>>

He hands me the armor and I take it in my room with Raziel. By now it is almost dark and the firsts stars are beginning to appear in the sky.

<< Seeing that I already trained the others earlier, what do you think about trying to begin tonight?>>

<<Well, sure, why not?>>

<<Do not worry, we will proceed slowly. I will not make you begin with something heavy or complicated>>

<<Agreed>>

<<Good, then I will wait for you near the river in twenty minutes>>

<<Sure>>

He smiles and exits the room, leaving me alone. Calmly, I wear the new armor. It is more close-fitting and light, a little darker and it seems that emanates some blue reflections. My cloak is almos dry, so I put it on and go in the garden. When Raziel sees me, it seems like he is having a vision.

<<It suits you so well…better then the other one>>

He make me spin again and kisses my forehead.

<<Ready to start?>>

I nod. He shows me the basics of fighting with and without the sword, in cases I should find myself disarmed. Simple things, things that I saw being taught to young boys in the neighborhood destined to become knights or simply well educated men able to defend their own family.

<<You did good for your first training>>

<<Really?>>

<<I could say that you have been better than some old rookies. I am sure you will learn very quikly>>

<<Do you really think so?>>

<<I would bet on it>>

It is almost dawn. Raziel hands me his arm, I wrap mine and we go back inside. I do not want to ruin the armor yet, so I decide to change back in a dress. Trousers may be comfy, but I prefer to cover my legs, maybe because of habit. I do not feel tiredness, my non-life gave me more energy. I start to feel a sense of hunger. It is not the same sensation I felt when I woke up in the crypt, satisfied by the blood of that man.

<<So strange…>>

I exit for a walk in the shadowed part of the territory. Nearby, there is a little forest with some fruit trees, but a streak of sun divides us.

<<…I want to try…>>

I stretch a trembling hand to the sunshine. As soon as I feel a little of his heat, I retract quickly.

<<Wait…it does…not hurt…?>>

I dip all of my hand in the beam of light. Nothing, just a little warmth.

<<M-maybe my turning is not complite…it cannot be…I should not be able to stay under the sun…>>

I cross the path and walk through the trees. I take a pair of apples and get rid of that feeling. Then I go back to my room and walk to the balcony. Raziel and his soldiers has just begun training and I stay there, whatching from above, observing. When they enter again, the sun is consuming the shadow and it is reaching my hands on the parapet. I wait for it to cover me complitely. Still nothing. A little sparrow lands beside me, I near a hand, it lets me pet it. I make a long sigh, almost melancholy.

<<I am…half human…>>


	11. Memories

I go back inside in the same instant Raziel closes the door behind him.

<<Niah? What were you doing outside? You are a new born, you cannot expose yourself to the sun!>>

<<I-I know…>>

<<Are you all right?>>

He comes near and checks for sunburns.

<<Yes, I am fine…I have nothing…>>

He does not believe it eather. The sun passes through the curtains, I step there and show him that I am different.

<<How…how can it be?>>

<<I thought you had an answer…I do not know…and…>>

<<What?>>

<<I…I have to eat… human food too, not only blood…I can still feel hunger and not only thirst…>>

His eyes go wider than ever.

<<It is not possible…the turning process has been perfect…nothing went wrong…then, why?>>

He sits on the bed with his hands on his hair, I sit beside him.

<<Maybe…Kain knew it… this could be the reason why he did not complain…and maybe him wanting you as a soldier could be linked to this…>>

<<How could he have known? Like…I do not think he could know what will happen, he would have told you…would he not?>>

He stares at the wooden planks torturing his fingers and nails.

<<I am going to talk with him>>

He stands and walks out of the room, leaving me there.

<<He seemed so nervous…maybe I should have not told him…>>

I stand on my feet and go to the library in the common area to pass some time. After a while I feel a light stinging in my throat.

<<It is back…I must look for Raziel…>>

I find him just outside the library discussing with some rookies. He dismisses them and turns around, seeing me almost strained.

<<Niah? Are you all right?>>

I rub a hand on my throat, the burning sensation has grown so quickly and I cannot talk.

<<I see, come with me>>

He takes my by the hand and leads me in a place he never showed me yet, similar to a prison. Some peolpe are caged and chained. They do not seem moribund, but not happy to be there either.

<<Choose one and…feed. Try not to drain them, it is not that hard>>

I look around fast through the cells. I sens a knot at the stomach. Seeing them there chained and defenceless make my thirst almost disappear.

<<They are here for emergencies. By now they are resigned>>

I walk to a cell with a blond girl with green eyes and a light dress. She must be no more than sixteen or seventeen. I lay on the bars and notice that she is not chained. When the girl turns to look at us, she stares at me openmouthed.

<<I-it cannot be…Niah? Is that you?>>

I step back from the gate. How can she know my name?>>

<<D-do you not recognize me? I am Angelica>>

<<Angelica? I do n-not…>>

I freeze. A river of memories flows in front of my eyes and goes back in time, leaving me like hypnotized.

_< <Niah! Come play with me!>>_

_A blond little child calls for the little girl on the balcony of her room._

_< <I can not…father does not want me to go outside, you know it>>_

_< <Ugh! Then I will go ask him!>>_

_< <Angie no!>> _

_The child knocks at the wooden door and a man opens._

_< <Angeica? What are you doing here? Go back home>>_

_< <Mum said that I could go out and ask Niah to play. Can she come?>>_

_< <No, she has to exercise with the writing>>_

_< <But she always does it! She gets bored to death all alone!>>_

_< <I do not care. Niah will not go out>>_

_< <But dad->>_

_The man slaps her making her fall. The child massages her cheek, tears beginning to slip down the other._

_< <I have already told you not to call me like that. You better never dare do it again. And now be gone!>>_

_Angelica stands dusting off her light green little dress, then makes a bigmouth and runs away._

_< <Did she call him…what?>>_

_The little girl watches the little blond child run towards home, but in the street there is a chariot coming and the clash is inevitable._

_< <ANGIE!>>_

_The little Niah runs downstairs, avoids his fathers big hands that try to stop her and runs in the street in the accident site._

_< <Angie!>>_

_The little one is laying on the ground, without any strength. The man guiding the chariot stares at her with no words. Niah crouches beside the blondie, raising gently her head and help her breathe._

_< <Angie! Angie please answer me!!>>_

_< <Do n-not shout so loud…>>_

_Some coughs and she opens her big, green eyes._

_< <Angie!! Oh my God you are alive!!>>_

_Niah stars crying. Comes the father that, heavy breathing, scolds her daughter for escaping._

_< <I told you to stay in your room all day!>>_

_< <But Angelica->>_

_< <No buts! GO back home immediately>>_

_< <I will not let her here to die!! This is your fault!!>>_

_The man finally sees the child in her daughter arms, blood streaming down all her legs. He sighs, lifts her and takes her home, then calls a doctor. After that he grabs her daughter, who had followed him alla round, by an arm and drags her home._

<<A-Angelica…oh my God…>>

I bring my hands on my face as tears begin to fall. Raziel opens the cell and lets me go inside. I fall to my knees on the straw. I still do not believe it.

<<Angie it is really you!>>

I hug her tight and she hugs me back.

<<Some time has passed…uh?>>

<<Ten years…ten damned years…Angie, You do not know how much I am sorry for what happened that day> I->>

<<You have no fault. It happened. Than is enough>>

She caresses my head, as if she were my older sister.

<<Angie…that day…you called my father…why?>>

<<He never told you, did he? Well…I am sorry to be the one to tell you but…he is my father too…>>

She looks down. She moves the dress from the legs and brushes her fingers on the countless scars on her skin. They are paler than the rest of her body and I realize that, because of that accident, she can not walk. A block in the stomach assaults me. Other than having let my mother die without doing anything and making me sleep in the room of her last days, he betraied her too? The hatred for my father grows even more, my eyes burn and i feel like crying blood. Angelica lays a hand on my cheek.

<<Niah…you are here because you are one of them…right?>>

With her eyes she signs to Raziel, who is leaning on the cell gate. I nod and drop my gaze.

<<Then you are here for a reason…come on, you will not hurt me…I am used to it by now>>

She moves her head to the side showing me multiple bruises.

<<How d-dd you end up here?>>

<<I had no choice…one night…he came to feed, but seeing me in this state he spared me>>

She motions to Raziel that averts our glances.

<<In a moment of crisis and fear I asked him to kill me, because I had no utility. He offered me to spare me, in exchange for my blood for the rest of my life>>

<<So…you will die here…>>

<<At least I can do something for someone…and then…it is not that bad here>>

She smiles. With guilt, I surrender, and with her approval, I bite her and feed, leaving her just a bit tired. I would have never thought to find myself in a situation like this. I hug her again, promising her to go and visit her more often, just to stay with her. When Raziel and I are back in our room, I sit at the desk and, in an anger attack, I fling all the papers on the air and lay on the surface, to fall in another cry a little later.

<<Niah…>>

<<I hate my father…I hate him with all my being!!>>


	12. First Hunt

He comes to me and hugs me from behind.

<<W-what did Kain tell you?>>

I try not to think about everything that had happened during the day. The sun is setting, and I begin to feel tiredness growing on my eyelids.

<<He said that he noticed a good potential in you and that he knew nothing…>>

I do not know why, but I sense like Kain is lying. He would have not wanted me to become a soldier. Other girls do not fight, they do what normal women do, clean and keep company to their mates.

<<He knew nothing…>>

I repeat that sentence with tiredness in my voice, I get up and sit on the bed.

<<Is everything fine Niah?>>

<<I…I am just a bit tired…>>

<<Then rest, my lady>>

Me caresses me and kisses my forehead before exiting and closing the door. I do not even change, I lay down and fall asleep almost immediately. In that night dream I live again the incident of ten years prior but from an outer prospective. Then I see my father, pleased by that fact. Rage blinds me, I jump at his neck. Then darkness. The following days I train my fighting skills with the sword, agility and speed. With the sun too, Raziel keeps an eye on me staying in the shadow of the building or of the woods.

<<Niah do not push yourself too much>>

<<I want to become better and be useful for something. And…I want to avenge Angie and mum>>

<<What? You mean that->>

<<I want to make my father suffer, yes>>

He looks at me surprised and does not know what to say.

<<He ruined my life, betrayed my mother and destroyed Angie’s life too…I do not need any other reason>>

<<Which are your intentions? You ran away from him, is it not enough?>>

<<Before knowing about Angelica…but now no more>>

With a hit of sword I almost crack a rock. The metal of the blade is a lot resistant and it hardly breaks.

<<I can perceive your anger only by looking at you…do you wish him to be your first prey then?>>

To that question, my breath stops for a couple of second, my blood begins to boil in my veins. The thought of give him pain makes my hands tingle.

<<Yes. And I will free Clara too…she too has suffered for too long>>

A night I go back to my old village escorted by Raziel and Melchiah. They stay on the roof top of the house in front of mine, I, with a long cloak and a hood, knock at he door. The torch in the kitchen is still on, Clara must be still awake. When she opens the door she jawdrops.

<<M-miss Niah…is that you?>>

<<Yes, but please, lower your voice. Is my father upstairs?>>

<<I think he is asleep by now…d-do I have to wake him up?>>

I look better at her. On her face and arms the are some dark bruises. I clench my fists.

<<No. Listen, I want to free you from this prison>>

<<What d-do you want to do?>>

<<Do not worry about this, I will not leave any trace>>

I go up the stairs to the room of the man that was once my father. I enter without making any sound and I near the bed.

<<Even when you sleep you are obnoxious…>>

I put a paper and the pen on the desk, then I move the chair noisily and sit on it crossing my legs. He wakes up at the noise and shoots sitted with a knife in hand.

<<Who are you?! W-what do you want from me?!>>

<<Just a little thing…>>

I look at my nails making them shine in the starlight.

<<That voice…Niah?>>

<<So you recognize me. I thought you already forgot about me>>

I stand up and lower the hood, he gets up and nears me.

<<What do you want? What have you come to do?>>

<<I came to avenge a pair of people>>

He looks at me confused.

<<Does it say nothing to you the name Angelica?>>

His eyes widen.

<<I found her. She is alive, but she cannot walk. And it is your fault>>

<<M-my fault? I did nothing!>>

<<Ten years ago, you sent her away badly, she was just a child and wanted do play. But you wanted to keep me caged here and when she ran away a chariot invested her and that destroyed her legs>>

<<I-I thought she was dead…>>

<<You thought wrong. Her legs work no more because of your selfishness. And she answered to a question I asked you that day. “She called me that because she has no father” right? Wrong! That father is you! You betrayed mum to go with hers!>>

<<Your mother was already ill. And I never recognized her as a daughter>>

<<And it has been a big mistake. Instead of staying near mum you decided to go with another woman. You do not know how much disgust I feel to you>>

<<And you? Your ran away and had the bravery to come back>>

<<Do not worry, you will not see me again, I assure you, Just, I want to make sure of one thing. Sit at the desk>>

<<What are you doing?>>

I move the cloak and let him catch a glimpse of my scabbard with the sword. He sits without any otherword.

<<Now. I want to make sure that, when you will leave this world, you will let Clara have everything you have. Money, belongings, house. Everything>>

<<Are you crazy? She will spend everything!>>

<<I know she will not. And I want to avenge the people you have hurt>>

I slap him behind his head, almost making him hit the desk with his forehead.

<<With this we are two out of four>>

With tears in his eyes, he writes, while I dictate him what to write, giving up. He understands quickly what will be his fate after that. I take the paper and read, checking all the points.

<<Very well, three people done. And last, but not least, for moth->>

A pain in the stomach blocks me. The knife penetrated almost to the hilt and my blood oozes on his hand.I leave the paper on the desk, than I grab his wrist and make him slip off the knife from my abdomen.

<<You should have not done that…now it will be more painful…for you>>

I block him on the floor and wait for my wound to close, his terrorized gaze gives me an immense pleasure that reaches its top when I dip my canines in his throat. No whines, no blood on the planks. A speedy and clean work. I go back downstairs after fixing the scene.

<<M-miss…I heard some noise…w-what happened…?>>

She looks at me terrorized.

<<You will not need to worry about anything anymore. I made it seem a suicide. Just give the allarm tomorrow morning, there is something for you on his desk>>

<<W-wait…you mean that…>>

I smile at her, exit the building and walk down the street. She runs to me and hugs me tight.

<<Thank you so much miss! Now I can live better and find a better work and->>

<<You do not need to thank me, just…do not say anyone I have returned, I will not come back anymore>>

<<I will be mute like a mouse and so much grateful to you>>

I wave her goodbye and walk away. Then I jump on the rooftop and reach the two vampires that wait for me.

<<Well done, Niah>>

<<Thank you Melchiah>>

<<Do you feel better now?>>

<<Yes…in a certain way, yes…>>

Raziel hugs me tight and kisses my head.

<<That is my student>>

We go back to the kingdom, Raziel goes to report to Kain while I go in our room, change and lay down.

<<It was what he deserved…now my soul is in peace>>


	13. Sadness

Years pass by, every now and then I go visit Angelica and with every year that passes, it is another year on her skin. While other prisoners and her still grow old, I remain a young lady, like other vampires. When her moment arrives, she wants me to take her last breath. With a bleeding heart and burning tears, I satisfy her last wish. I see the brightness in her eyes estinguish and her strength leaving her body between my arms.

<<I am so sorry Angelica…if only I could have…I would have made it possible for you to become one of us…but you would still not go back to walk…>>

More time passes, more my training become hard and I more nimble. Sometimes I found myself guarding the gates during the day. “Their fortune, my misfortune” just to mention Rahab. In the meantime, Kain expands his kingdom. More humans are turned in vampires and other women are arruolated in the armies too. I participate at some battles too. My ability to hide my vampiric side to humans and to move without making any noise help me in reconnaissance missions that are assigned to me.

Centuries fly and I am nominated second in command in the Razielim clan. Raziel teaches me to dance, I would have never thought him being able to, but he is so good at it. And we, as a couple, just cuddle all the free time. Lust rarely overcome us, but when it does, it is mostly to celebrate a win or special occasions. During all this time, Raziel and his brothers undergo the evolutions destined to them. Their specific powers amplify, their hands and feet change and become like Kain’s. I remain, fortune or misfortune that is, the only one to never change. Even the vampires turned after me undergo the changes.

After the last battle, Raziel felt the urge to evolve. I did not see him in weeks, maybe months. When I sense him approaching I begin to get nervous. I sense something different, but it is still him. He knocks at the door and I go open. His body is entirely covered.

<<Raziel! Finally!>>

I hug him tight and he hugs me back. Something stretches out from his lower back and goes up.

<<I could not wait to see you again, Niah. And I wanted you to be the first to see me>>

He removes the cloak and turns showing me his back. Time a few second and he spreads his big bat wings of the same color of his shin.

<<Wow...>>

When I brush one with my fingertips he retracts it.

<<Careful...I am sensible there…when I will learn to use them well I will take you to fly with me>>

<<In the moonlight?>>

<<Of course, my love>>

<<Then I accept more than willingly>>

He turns around, wraps my waist with his arms and nears me to give me a kiss.

<<Kain organized a meeting with my brothers. I think they now I am awake. I will show them my new gift>>

<<Wait…but did Kain not say that he would have been the first to change?>>

<<He said it, yes. But he did not change in a lot of time, I do not thing he will blame me>>

Another kiss and he gets ready to go. I have a bad feeling about this, but I cannot stop him. I follow him from far behind and hide on top of a window of the building around the Pillars. Who knows how they were when they were whole.

It is sunset, I see Raziel enter and his brethren remain speechless. In Kain’s glance I see a glimpse of disbelief, then realization. Raziel bows and spreads his wings. Kain stands from his throne and goes to him. My mate stands once more and watches him as he examines his new gift. I cannot see Kain’s face anymore, but I feel a terrible hit in the stomach when I see him raise his arms and rip off the bones of Raziel’s wings who drops in knees on the floor screaming in pain. I almost throw up my last meal.

<<Take him and carry him to the Abiss>>

No. Not the Abiss. This way he will burn. He will die!

I precede them hiding at the entrance of the cave that leads to Raziel territory. Kain watches down the edge of the cliff, then he goes back. The noise of the falls covers the sound of his words, but I am able to read his lips.

<<Cast him in>>

Turel and Dumah, who were carrying Raziel’s motionless body, let him fall in the whirlpool of the Lake of Dead, where all Kain’s traitors are executed. I hear Raziel last scream while he gets burned by the whirl of water and another keck tries to escape.

<<Find them all. And exterminate them>>

<<All the Razielim? But they are too much! Sir, they could be usefu->>

<<Shut up, Rahab. And do as you are told>>

<<Her too, father?>>

<<Yes Melchiah…her too>>

Terror assaults me. I run to my room, take a big bag, retrieve a pair of dresses, armor, scabbard, sword, knife, cloaks, some supplies and go. Thanks to my speed I manage to run away. During those centuries I noticed that no one could perceive my presence, only Raziel could. Every time I think about him I feel a stab in my heart. Only the necklace he gifted me gives me a little comfort. I run as far as possible, where no vampire has went on his own. I run for three nights and two days, I know it is not enough but I need to rest and take other supplies. Plus, bloodthirst is coming back and if I were to attack humans, Kain and his sons could detect my movements.

<<What can I do? This thirst is killing me…>>

I am in the woods. I smell blood, but not human blood. I follow the scent to a wounded hind. She hardly limps and falls repeatedly. I near her, whe she sees me tries to escape, but falls badly worsening the wound. It hurts me seeing her like this. I always loved animals, but this is an emergency.

<<Forgive me…I wish I would not need this…>>

I draw my knife, cover her eyes and put and end to her suffering. I drink all the blood in her body, or what was left of it. It does not have the same taste of human blood but it fills anyway. She was dying of blood loss, it is a good thing I killed her or who knows how much she will have still suffered. I ready a fire and cook the meat that I afterwards eat. I rest a little and as soon as the sun rises, I retrieve my things, cover my tracks, pick some fruit and restart my escape. I run under the rain to get away more and more. And on my cheeks, other than rain, fall some tears. Between the cry of the sky and mine, my tears are the one to burn more.


	14. Escape

For days and nights I run without stop, trying to keep my strength as long as possible and suppressing my hunger and thirst. By now I have lost the sense of time. By now I cry no more, I lost the strength and it has no more sense, I can do nothing to change the past.

After some time I find an abandoned shack in the woods, far from everyone and every thing, near a waterfall. It has been some days that I walk at human pace to save energy, but I cannot make it any longer. I hide in the shack and rest a few hours before going out again to hunt something. Bloodthirst begins to make me lose control. However, there is a problem. The sun is setting again and I do not wish to meet other vampires scouting, if there are any nearby. I must be quick. I take the bottles I retrieved from a corpse a few days before, my knife, some rope, a sack, a little pouch and I go into the woods.

In all those centuries, strangely, my hair did not stop to grow, but I cut them continuously. Now I do not remember the last time it happened and it’s length reaches half my back, tied in a braid. The red of the roots is long a few inches, while the black covers all the rest of the length. During my escape I retrieved other clothes, keeping mine and my armor as stock. As hunt uniform I wear a dark brown shirt, probably for males, some dark tight trousers and my trusted arbor boots, surprisingly light and comfy.

I begin my hunting session, I must hurry. Every moment with light is precious time. I stop in a little open space surrounded by trees and bushes. I stay still to try perceiving any sound. Nothing. I look around looking for tracks. Nothing. I decide to pick edible roots, herbs and berries, so at least I can eat something. After a while I smell blood and hear growling coming from a few steps further on. I jump on a tree and get near. A grey wolf, all skin and bones, managed to gain itself a quite substantial meal, a deer. I can do nothing, the blood is lost by now and the wolf is eating all the meat.

Another rustling. From the bushes appear two other growilg wolves, their fur darker, and surround the thinner one. They want that prey for themselves. The owner of the reward tries to defend his meal but the other two, stronger than it, begin to attack him. I feel like a sense of guilt seeing that scene. I cannot bear the intimidating behavior of those animals. I jump down and with some well placed strikes I am able to make their hearts stop beating. Then I begin to work: I hang them up on a tree, cut their throats and fill the bottles with their blood, I drink the rest in the moment. When I turn to the thin wolf lying down, he is staring at me trembling. His wound bleeds, my instinct tells me to kill him, but I repress it.

<<Do not fear, I will not hurt you>>

The wolf growls at me, still trembling. I puff.

<<If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so already>>

I near him and crouch in front of him. He growls again, trying to back away.

<<Come on…you do not want to draw attention, do you?>>

I look at his cuts, he does the same and begins to lick them.

<<I have water in the shack…I pity you...let me help you>>

The wolf looks at me, maybe with a confused or questioning glance. I get up and free the corpses of the wolves, retrieving the ropes. I retrieve the bolltes too and put them in the sack.

<<It is starting to get dark…>>

I go near the wolf again and try to touch him, but he tries to bite. I jerk back for a few seconds, then I put my hand under his muzzle. A little reluctant he nears, sniffs it and licks some remnants of blood.

<<Do you trust me now?>>

The wolf yaps and looks at me. I smile at him and take him in my arms. Thanks vampire strength. I run to the shack and lock us inside. I lay the wolf in a corner on a worn out blanket. Who knows since when it is abandoned. I take some water and some rags, go back to the animal and begin to clean and bandage his wounds. Some cries, growls and tempted bite, I finish treating him.

<<Stay there and rest. I go back hunting. Even if it is dark…>>

He yelps again, staring at me.

<<Do not worry, I will take something for you too>>

I take out the bottles from the sack and go out again. The first stars are making their way on the dark cloak of the sky. After a few hours I go back to the shack with a pair of hares, the meat of the wolves and a fawn. Luckily there was no one in the woods and I could hunt in peace. The wolf wakes up when he hears me coming back.

<<Hey, are you feeling better?>>

He lays his muzzle on the floor and stares. I sigh and put a hare in front of him. He smells it and then devours it.

<<You must have been without food for a lot of time, uh?>>

I near a hand to his head, he looks at it, then lets me pet him. With my fingers I comb the fur on his head and on his back, careful to not touch the bandages and his minor wounds. After that I sit near him and eat some berries and roots.

<<Tomorrow I have to cook this meat, I cannot eat it raw…I hope nobody notices the smoke…>>

I lean my head on the wood planks wall and close my eyes. Then I open them wide.

<<No. Not now. I cannot sleep. I cannot risk to be found. I must stay awake, at least until sunrise>>

The wolf stares at me, he had finished eating. He lays his head on my lap and closes his eyes. I smile and pet him.

<<Do not worry, I will be on guard. Goodnight>>

After a while my eyelids begin to get heavy.

<<I have to keep my mind occupied…or I will fall asleep…>>

I look around and my eyes fall on my knife and on the sack. My imagination makes me remember of an ornament in the library in the clans common area, carved from a bone.

<<But I cannot get up…>>

I stare at the sack and the knife a bit frustrated. How would it be easier if they were magical and I could control them to make them float to me. After a few seconds I see a soft water-green light wrap around those objects that begin to move. I am surprised, but I concentrate and, at the end, I manage to make them come to me. I smile and squeeze my pendant, feeling a little heat coming from its silver.

<<...thank you...this is only thanks to you…Raziel>>


	15. Company

Something licks my hand and wakes me up. I must have fallen asleep while carving.

<<Damn it…I could not resist…from now on, I must rest more often…>>

The wolf looks at me a bit confused, then tries to get up, but he collapses a few seconds later.

<<It seems that you have to rest more too>>

With half a smile I mess up the fur between his ears. I need to go out and look for some wood and cook the meat of the day prior.

<<I need to hurry, otherwise it will rot. You stay here and rest, I will be back soon>>

I run out and search quickly for little woods, dry leaves and twigs. In the meantime I find some glints, dry grass and some other berries. When I go back, before setting the fire. I climb on the tallest spot and look around. Only trees, no signs of human presence. I go back to the ground and light the bonfire, with the cleaned sword I stick the animal meat and put it over the flame laying the blade on four crossed sticks. While the meat cooks, I go watch the nearby from above and the wolf on the shack. Everything is quiet. I put the pelts dry in the sun after cleaning them and I finish to carve some needles and brooches. Just a little before the meat ends cooking, I hear a thud beside me and a weight leaning on my side.

<<Oh, it is you. You managed to get up>>

The wolf lays his muzzle on my lap and I pet him.

<<I guess you are hungry, uh? You have to resist a little more, I have almost finished. I will go and pick some water for you, I saw a bowl in the shack>>

I get up and go retrieve the bowl, clean it and fill it at the river. I go back to sit again beside the wolf and put the bowl in front of him, and while he drinks, I open a bottle and calm my thirst with some blood.

<<I hope that it will not go bad in here…>>

The wolf picks my attention rubbing his head on my hand.

<<Uh? What is it?>>

With his nose he points some bushes in front of us. Some leaves move frantically. I get up and take the knife, slowly nearing the bushes and I notice a little hare being stuck. With a relieved sigh, I catch it by its ears and pull its neck. Then I go back to the bonfire and place the animal in front of the wolf that begins immediately to eat it.

<<You know, I was thinking about giving you a name. I do not know if you will stay by my side once you will be healed, but I want to try>>

He looks at me licking his teeth and with his ears perked up.

<<Do you like the idea? Well, then what do you think about…Buck?>>

He tilts his head on the side, I think it is a no.

<<Uhm…Icarus?>>

He straighten and howls a bit.

<<Do you like it?>>

He howls again.

<<Very well, Icarus. I think we will be a good team>>

I pet his back while he devours the carcass, then I extinguish the flames and, with the leather i left in the sun, i make a purse where to keep the meat, sewing it with some fresh brenches from a nearby willow. Some days pass by, while the wolf stays in the shack guarding and resting more, I explore the surroundings during the day, searching for any prey and some fruit, going a little far to see how distant is the nearer village. A week later, Icarus can stand properly and almost run aganin.

<<I think that in a few days we can move from here. Better not stay here for too long. Some Sarafan could find us, and not only them…>>

Seeing me a bit down, Icarus yaps and licks my hand before turning around quickly towards the woods with his ears percked up. It is night and the fire crackles in front of us. A rustling, a thud, a familiar presence. Icarus begins to growl.

<<Icarus, hush…>>

I try to keep him by my side, but before I could catch him by his scruff, he stands and jumps in the bushes. I get up quickly and keep my hand firm on the handle of my swords. A sharp yelp makes me worry and run to him seeing him laying on the ground senseless.

<<Icarus!!>>

Before I could kneel beside him to see what happened, a bright trail crosses the air at mere inches from my nose, making me back up with a back handspring. With a fast jump, I go retrieve the wolf and go back near the shack.

<<Icarus please…>>

He breathes and I sense his heart still beating. From his mouth there is a little streack of blood, his tougne wobbles ouside.

<<I did not kill him, I just put him out of action. Something I cannot promise to you>>

That voice is so familiar. To much familiar.

<<Show yourself, coward!>>

<<Me? A coward? I am not the one who has been running away for months>>

A dark laugh accompanies the movement of the leaves. The figure is illuminated by the flames and, from that moment, I become sure of my suspicions.

<<Damn it…>>

<<Did you miss me?>>

<<Not at all…Kain>>

The disdain and hatred in my voice is well audible. Another laugh and the white haired vampire comes closer.

<<What a pity…you have been the best creation Raziel could make…immune to water and sunlight too>>

<<What do you want?>>

<<Is it not obvious? I want you to have the same end of your clan. You had a few days in advantage, but you have been not that cautious with your camping idea>>

With a little movement of his sword, he points to the bonfire that divides us.

<<Apparently, my other sons could not find you. Your gift that hides your aura and your smell has been useful, but your stupidty betrayed you>>

He jumps to me with unsheathed sword. I bring up mine just in time to block the blow, but he tries to attack again immediately. I jump back, on the shack roof, the in the trees.

<<And then you call me a coward? Come out and fight for your life, like your clanmates did, come on>>

In silence, I stay still on a branch. After a few seconds, Kain walks in the trees and to an open space in front of the tree I am on, showing me his back.

<<Do you really think you can hide that easilly?>>

He turns and blocks me with his telekinesis by the neck making me drop the sword and almost choke. He brings me near untill he can take me by the collar of my shirt.

<<Why do you want to kill me Kain? I could never confront you in a fight, I could never beat you>>

<<Your entire clan has been eradicated. You are the last one standing>>

He lays the tip of the Reaver on my neck and I sense it’s hunger grow. A tear mixed of fear and rage slips down my cheek and falls on his hand, cretating a little smoke and a light burn.

<<Now you are scared, uh? You are pathetic>>

<<First the man who saved me and that I loved…then my clan, my soldiers, my friends and family…and now me…if this will make you feel better, then kill me and make me stop suffering for my loss…maybe, this way, I can see him again>>

Other tears make their way down my cheeks, this time in anger and sadness. Outraged by my bravado, he pushes the blade further, piercing my skin. I feel like the sword begins to suck my soul, but I have not finished talking.

<<You killed Raziel in an act of gelousy. You are heartless…you have never loved anyone, not even your own sons>>

Now it seems he wants to burn me alive with just his glance. Instead, after a few seconds, in my ears echoes an even darker laugh.

<<You have a good point, you could never defeat me, neather in a thousand years…but you know nothing of my reasons>>

He lets me go and I fall, finally going back to breath after a couple coughs.

<<I will not tell the other clans to stop searching for you, make it clear>>

He surpasses me without looking at me and he is entering again the woods when, in a last act of strenght and bravery, I ask him a question.

<<Did you ever regret a choice you made?>>

He stops and turns, looking at me straight in the eyes.

<<By now…just once…maybe twice>>

He goes through the first line of trees, then a ruslte and some bats take flight towards the night sky.

<<Tsk…sadic bastard…>>

And with that, darkness.


	16. New and old acquaintances

I find myself in a dark place. Black floor, black walls, black ceiling…I believe it is not even a room, I cannot feel the pavement under my feet.

<<What the hell…>>

Underneath me a red stain begins to grow, in the distance a light and a dark silhouette.

<<I think…I already did a similar dream…>>

The same Soul Reaver I dreamed the day of my turning is there, in front of me. The black blade and it’s light borders near me. This time, I do not touch it, I just observe it.

<<What could it mean?>>

I look at my hands, then again the Reaver. In the eyesockets of the skull appear a white light and the sword springs to me and hits me like a punch in the guts.

<<What the-!!>>

I am permeated by a heat that makes me feel stronger. Than the light at the end of the room rushes over me and wraps me, blinding me. I am awekened by a black wet nose that rubs on my forehead end a yap.

<<I-Icarus…>>

The wolf backs up letting me sit. It is sunset, I must have been sensless at least for a day.

<<You have been guarding the whole time, I suppose…>>

I pet his head and he lays beside me. My hunger makes me stand up and retrieve something to eat and drink and go back to sit under a tree with the wolf. We stay there until we finish to eat.

<<Icarus, I think we have to move…not too far from here there is Vorador’s mansion. If it is still inhabitable…>>

Yes, the vampire prince, the Soul Reaver Forger, one of the firts, if not the first, human to be turned vampire after the blood curse. Executed centuries ago by the Sarafan. I pick up all the things that I manage to put in my bags and, before beginning the journey, I climb on the tallest tree to look for the way we have to follow.

<<It must be a three or four days walk, at human pace, without any holdups>>

We start travellimg through the woods, pausing every now and then to feed and rest. After two days and a half, while we were resting, I sense an unknown but powerful presence nearing us. It is not a vampire aura, neather a human one. Or, at least, a normal human.

<<Finally we meet, last Razielim vampiress>>

I stand up and unseathe my sword while Icarus stays by my side with bared teeth.

<<Who are you? What do you want? And how do you know what I am?>>

A very old man, covered by a purple tunic with golden borders, comes out of the shadows keeping in hand a staff, tall like him, twisted with a red snake with yellow stomach and a big, bright, liliac sphere in it’s mouth.

<<I know a lot of things, my dear Niah>>

His eyes look like dusty pearls, he has no hair and no beard, and he is so thin and wrinkled that he could snap with a blow of wind.

<<How do you know my name? Speak!>>

<<I told you, I know a lot of things. My name is Moebius, time streamer and Sarafan priest>>

<<Sarafan?!>>

<<I am not here to harm you. I just wanted to know how is it going with your new powers>>

<<What are you talking about, old man?>>

<<Oh? You did not notice yet, did you? Was that dream not clear enough?>>

<<What are you babbling about? Are you mad maybe?>>

Inside me begins to boil a rage that spreads all over me like a strange heat and my hands tighten around the hilt of the sword.

<<Then maybe Kain did not do his work as he was supposed to>>

<<Why do you know Kain? Speak fast, before I lose my patience!>>

A light liliac aura spreads from my right elbow down to the sword without my noticing.

<<Maybe Raziel will be able to teach you how to use them>>

<<Do not say his name in my presence ever again!!>>

A tear slips and that heat grows until the sword is illuminated with its own light and almost blinds me. Icarus hides behind a bush to observe a little scared while I sense my sword change in shape and weight. When the light goes out slowly, I find out the blade has become a copy of the one in my dream and has a light liliac glow that wraps it.

<<What-…>>

<<Ah, there we go…you just needed a little push. Kain and Raziel would be a lot surprised>>

<<I told you not to say Raziel’s name in my presence, Moebius!!>>

I raise my new sword at shoulder height, aiming at the center of the old priest’s chest. A little sparkle from the scepter and I sense a light pressure on my chest, but not powerful enough to block me. Seeing that it has no effect on me, Moebius’ expression changes from that damned smile to a feared frown.

<<Oh…I forgot you are not entirely a vampire>>

I make a few steps to him until I can brush him with the tip of my new Dark Reaver.

<<My time has not come yet, my dear. We will meet again, be sure of it>>

He taps his staff twice on the ground and begins to dissolve. Once he complitely disappears, I lower my arm staring in the place where there was the old man. A yelp coming from the bushes brings me back to reality.

<<Icarus?>>

The wolf comes closer cautious keeping his tail low, almost between his paws. I kneel to his height, lay the sword a bit far and stretch my arms towards him. Icarus come a little bit closer, then lets me hug him.

<<I am so sorry…I did not mean to scare you…I did not even know I could do it…>>

I observe the Reaver that slowly goes back to its original shape. At least I do not have to hide it. The Soul Reaver is unique. Theoretically. We go back to our travelling, making our stops in the way, but not so far I sense another familiar presence, with four or five more auras, different from the others met the past days.

<<Stay by my side, Icarus. It must be one of Raziel’s brothers…>>

I hear some rustle all around me. I pick up my sword that begins to lighten up in liliac almost immediately.

<<Not now…do not transform yet…>>

A few shadows make their way through the brances, but one in particular attracts my attention. He has short hair and he is thin.

<<Here you are, at last…it has been hard to find you, since you have no aura>>

<<Zephon>>

The spider loving vampire makes a couple steps ahead, disarmed. His soldiers stay among the trees observing.

<<So, how is it going?>>

<<Are you kidding me? Did Kain not send you here to kill me? I do not think this is the best moment to have a nice chit chat>>

His face is serious, but it transpire some guilt. He keeps his arms crossed on his chest, but not in his usual confident stance, he keeps his shoulder forward and his eyes on the ground.

<<Listen…I do not want to do it…>>

Icarus starts growling, but with a gesture of my hand I silence him.

<<What do you mean?>>

<<Kain ordered us to find and kill you, like we had to do with the rest of the Razielim clan…but I cannot do it…I killed too much vampires. And the recurring nightmare of my brother thrown into the Abiss is making me go crazy. So, maybe, if I keep you alive the nightmares will stop>>

<<So you are doing it for yourself>>

<<And because I think this is not right. I know, it is too late to go back…but I had no choice. Kain was there to watch us, we could not spare anyone…but, since you are the last and he is not here, I can let you go and tell him that I killed you. Kain never said to bring back your corpse>>

<<Since when you are so caring towards me?>>

<<Well…to say the truth, I never hated you…actually, just because you did not fear spiders, I uh…liked you>>

The vampire scratches his nape in embarassment and between his soldiers can be heard a choked laugh. I put back my sword and lay my hands on my waist.

<<I want to trust you…you seem sincere>>

<<I swear on my clan and my life>>

He raises his left hand and lays his right one where there would be his heart. I near him a bit suspicious, then I hug him, taking him by surprise. After a few seconds, he hugs me back, tightening lightly.

<<I am so sorry…even the others did not want all of this to happen…they will be happy to know that you are still alive>>

<<At least for now>>

He breaks the hug and grabs me by my shoulders.

<<I will tell my brothers personally>>

<<Thank you Zephon. I owe you>>

<<Do not say it, even as a joke. I caused too much pain. This is the least I can do to make up for it>>

I smile and he looks away. Then his eyes light up.

<<I almost forgot!>>

From a bag, he extracts a cloth in five different colors: yellow, green, purple, blue and greenish-grey.

<<We thought to make you this. I understand if you do not want to accept it>>

Unfolding it, I see the five emblems of the remaining clans. Except Kain’s.

<<Thank you…it means a lot…>>

I put it in my bag, take out a dress and rip it apart, cut my hand and soak the piece of clothing with my blood, under the worried gaze of Zephon. Then I offer it to him.

<<He does not want my body…but this could work as a proof…>>

I stumble to my knees, he helps me get up and drink from one of my bottles.

<<You did not have to>>

<<I know…but maybe he will not look for me anymore…>>

When I can stand properly I hug him again.

<<Say hi and thanks for me to your brothers>>

<<I gladly will>>

He waves and runs through the forest with his soldiers. I stay there a few more moments, then, with Icarus by my side, I restart my walk to Vorador’s Mansion.


	17. Vorador's Mansion

Finally, after another long day of walking, we reach the gates of Vorador’s Manor.

<<I hope it is not too much devastated to stay here…a couple days at least>>

The gates open on their own with a high pitched creak. Icarus stays behind me while I move forward through the garden with high columns and statues to a staircase in white stone that leads to the entrace. Before I could touch them, the doors let us pass showing us the interior of the residence.

<<Wow…>>

When the Sarafan came here, centuries ago, to capture Vorador, they destroyed doors and blocked passagges.

<<It is shabby…but livable. It is enough to move some debrits and we will be able to pass>>

For supplies, I will have to go outside and hunt in the forest, for water I will have to find a river or something. It will not be practical, but at least we can hide from curious eyes. Even though everything has a layer of dust and there are a lot of creacks on the walls, luxury does not lack here. Marble statues, torches and candlesticks with golden refinements, ebony furniture, prestigious carpets and tapestry, paintings and the more you have the more you put. I explore the Mansion with Icarus making a mental map of the rooms and hallways.

<<This place is enormous, there are a lot of books and in a lot of rooms…I will have something to waste time with>>

When it is almost sunset, we stop in a large room with a fireplace, I light up a fire and go out leaving the wolf there. I am able to find some hares and a hawk of medium size. Thanks vampire speed to having allowed me to do that. I go back to our new camping site, skin the animals, fill my bottles of their blood and leaving the hawk and a hare to Icarus.

<<Sorry for the blood stains on the carpet, Vorador>>

The lightly faded painting, above the fireplace, of the dark green skinned vampire seems to have a truculent and judging gaze. It makes me shiver. The night passes by calm, as the ones after. During the day I roam in the mansion moving stone and wood debrits from the hallways, stopping here and there to read the titles of the books in the rooms I find. I discover books of local flora and fauna, others of the history of Nosgoth and its cities, the Ancient war, human and non-human books and some of them full of spells. I take with me the ones I find interesting, bring them in the room where we stay and read them in the evening or at night, in front of the fire. The smoke from the chimney has not attracted the attention of anyone yet. After all, who would penetrate a forest where they think there are vampires and blood sucking monsters? Icarus raises his head with perked up ears. I talked too early. Two human presences have entered the building and are slowly approaching. Icarus stands and nears the half closed door, opening it with his nose, sniffs the air and starts growling.

<<Down, Icarus. If we do not let them spot us they will leave…eventually>>

Nothing, he does not listen. Slowly, he walks out in the hallway staying hidden by some debrits. My stomach grumbles and my throat begins to burn. I am starting to think that my blood thirst manifests itself when there are humans or something hurt around. Now thet I am getting used to animal blood it is more difficult for me to sense this feeling. I get up and follow the wolf, keeping a low profile, hiding in the shadows. Once indiduated the two hunters, we lie in wait and observe.

<<I thought this mansion was deserted in centuries...I heard it is infested>>

<<Nonsense, it must be someone searching for shelter>>

<<Is there anyone in here?>>

Their voices echoes in the hallway and the rooms. I pet the wolf beside me to keep him calm and make him not jump on the unknowingly humans. The hunters enter in a room at a couple feet from us, I follow them nodding at Icarut to be quiet. I hide in a nook and keep observing them.

<<Maybe they hid. This place is huge, it will be impossible to find whoever is in here>>

<<They could have even left. How do we know? Come on, lets go back. This place gives me goosebumps>>

With my speed, I go to the other side of the room in the same moment they turn around towards the door. They did not notice me, but the wolf blocks them the way. They unsheathe their swords and aim at Icarus.

<<Be gone, ungly beast, if you do not want to have a painful death>>

<<Him, a painful death? If I was in you, I would not lay a finger on the animal, or else, you will be the ones to die painfully>>

The two hunters turn to look at me.

<<Where did you come from?>>

<<I am just a poor girl in search for shelter. You, instead, what are you doing here?>>

<<We saw the smoke coming from one of the cimney and we wanted to help anyone who was here>>

The smoke. The damned smoke. Why do people follow the smoke? The burning sensation is growing, but I try to resist. If I kill only one of them, the other could go and warn vampire hunters to come and look for me, if he ever manages to exit in one piece from here, but if I kill both of them, there is the possibility that someone could search for them, or not. Icarus starts growling again, making the two men turn again towars him.

<<Icarus, down>>

<<Is this creature yours?>>

<<I saved him from certain death and now he makes me company and obeys me. He will not attack you until you attack or until I say so>>

<<It is a reliefe. Come with us. We have horses that could bring us back to our village, it is not too much far. There you could get shelter and help>>

<<This is so kind of you, but I must decline>>

I get near them with crossed arms.

<<You see, in your village I would not be welcome. My...“condition” would not let me. I cannot stay around humans without risking to kill one every now and then>>

Their faces change expression, from confused and curious to terrorized. They fall to their knees and drop the swords.

<<V-vampire…>>

<<Gentlemen, I am feeling nice today…you have two choices: you take your swords and horses and go away from here, without saying a word about this to anyone…or you force me to kill you both. You have to choose quickly, my bloodthirst is growing and I do not know how much longer I can resist from jumping to your necks>>

I get surprised from my sudden malice, but it amuses me in some way. I see my reflection in their eyes. They are blocked there, surrounded by a wolf and a vampire, without escape way.

<<L-let us go, please. We will bother you no more>>

<<Well then, I will let you go. But if I will come to knowledge that you blabbed my presence here or if I notice a growing number of people around here, I will come for you. And it will not be pleasing. At least for you>>

I nod Icarus to move and he bypasses them stopping on my side.

<<You know the way. And remember: mouth closed. Or else…>>

I brush my thumb on my neck making a straight line as a warning. They nod frantically and exit the room making a run for the outer doors of the mansion. I cover my throat with a hand, the burning is almost unbearable, but I cannot risk to be hunted by whoever wants to annoy me. They said their village is not too far, but it must be at least a couple days at horse pace. We go back to the fireplace room and I drink and entire bottle of animal blood. I sit on the ground ad Icarus lays beside me. I brush lightly the fur on his back with my nails while, with the free hand, I take a book and slowly flip through the pages. Everyday the same routine: we wake up, roam the mansion and find hidden passages, some of them sealed, I find other books, go hunting and at night I read or we sleep. On a rainy day, while reading, I find some spells and tips for immortality. Spell to turn humans in vampires without draining the corpse, tips for shortening or prolonging turning times. But one page in particular caches my eye: “How to give immortality to animals”. I throw a glance to the wolf that rests beside me. I read carefully the procedure, it seems not that complicated but maybe a bit painful for both of us.

<<Better to avoid this…I could rethink about this, but not now. Maybe in case of emergency>>

I find also some spells to control fire, some to improve the telekinesis skills, some others are infusions to help the healing of bad or deep but not deadly wounds suitable for humans, animals and vampires, studies on poisonus plants that could be used as healing ingredients in combination with others.

<<These books have so much in them, so confusing…but they could be useful, I hope you don’t mind if I borrow them for a while>>

I look at the painting of the old master of this house and talk to it with irony. Sure, if I ever met him, I do not think I would talk to him with such lightness. But he is dead for some centuries by now, so I do not have to worry. In another book I discover the aspect of the old race of Hylden, the people who fought with the winged vampires. Seeing the bony and membranous protruberances on their backs I sense like my heart dropping. Their wings were so similar to the ones Raziel had grown in his evolution. A mix of confusion and nostalgy grows on my chest and hevies my breath.

<<Oh Raziel…why did it have to go like that?>>

I take the necklace in my hand and tighten the grip, his first gift he gave me centuries ago, a few days before my tuurning.

<<You have no idea how much I miss you…>>


	18. Transformation

Time passes by, seasons change and winter comes.

While we are out hunting, Icarus walks away after sensing a smell. I capt a human presence, but the wolf knows how to behave. Or I think at least. When I see him not coming back, I go to look for him.

<<Icarus?>>

Nothing.

<<Icarus where are you?>>

A scream. A whine. I run in the direction of the sounds and I find the animal laying on the grownd with a deep wound in the ribcage and he barely breathes. The hunter observes the canid with drawn weapon but, blinded by rage, I do not let him have time to do anything and with a single blow I cut him from his waist to his shoulder, leaving him dead in his tracks.

<<Icarus!!>>

Another whine.

<<Hush…do not push yourself…I will take you back, hold on!>>

I raise him from the dirt and with tears in my eyes I run to our shelter. I feel my arms and legs burning but I do not stop. Time some minutes and we are at the mansion. I bring him in the room with the fireplace and lay him down, pressing a shirt on the wound.

<<Please, resist!>>

My eye falls on a book I already read, I clean my hand on my shirt and take it, flip through it rapidly.

<<Here it is! Hold on, Icarus! I will not leave you so easilly…trust me…will you?>>

He moves his head lightly, I get up and run outside as fast as I can, search frantically for the herbs, roots and berries I need in the snow, finding the minimum needed for the spell. Once I have everything I go back to Icarus, and with a rock I make a mush, chanting some of the words to prepare the magic.

<<Good…the last ingredient I need is…vampire blood…what?! Damn it! How could I forget something like this?!>>

I look at the wolf in the eyes. He is draining out of strength.

<<Please, make it work>>

With the knife I cut my hand, let some drops of blood fall in the mush and mix. I raise the animal’s head and make the goop slip in his mouth chanting again those words. A faint light blue light wraps around us during the spell, tears do not want to stop from falling down my cheeks and some of them fall on the wolf’s muzzle.

<<Please…do not leave me…you are the last friend that I have left…>>

The light concentrates on the wolf only, in his wound and in his eyes. His breath remains stable even after the energy vanishes. I leave his head laying on the floor while I wrap his ribcage with a cloth, then I sit beside him waiting and hoping for the spell to work. I am drained, I have no strenght to get up. After a couple of minutes, I notice with horror that his chest is slowing down and his eyes are closing.

<<No…no no no! Icarus, please, no!>>

His breath stops. I bring my knees to my chest and cry again. I cry untill I fall asleep. I wake up a few hours later with swollen and red eyes, get up trembling and go to the fountain outside, break the ice and use the water below to freshen up a little. When I go back in the room, I sit in a corner and begin to carve a large peace of wood found in the garden. Only a while later I notice that the position of the wolf body has changed. From how I laied him to a more comfortable position, like he was sleeping.

<<…w-what…>>

His chest rises and falls slowly and he moves his tail every now and then.

<<I-Icarus…?>>

He opens his eyes and yawns. His irises shine lightly in lightblue, he stretches and sits staring at me, wagging his tail. Tears of joy burst down my cheeks wetting them again.

<<It worked! It really worked!!>>

I hug him and he licks my face, thrusting his head on mine. I free him from the cloth and the wound has disappeared.

<<I really did it…>>

He gets up still wagging and goes for the exit, looking at me. I dry my cheecks and smile getting up and following him out. We hunt, like always, for a few hours and, at sunset, we are back at the mansion. A few days after I notice that my friend has gained new skills. Increased speed and strenght, amplified hearing and smell, faster healing and regeneration. He is like me. Immortal. With the passing by of the years his body grows and his back reaches now half my chest, almost right under my armpit. In those decades we go visit Kain’s sons using the banner they made me as a pass. In the centuries that come after, Melchiah and his clan retreat in the Necropolis, Zephon and his soldiers close themselves in the Silent Cathedral, Rahab and his kin are forced to stay in the Drowned Abbey, Dumah and his people stay in the Ash Village, but Turel, after a while, disappears, leaving his clan roaming in the empire, and no one can find him. Despite our relatioship of peace, in the long time they forbid me to go visit them so, centuries after my escape, I find myself going between the mansion and the woods. Every now and then I feel the need to go back to the Abyss and my old clan territory, even if there is not living soul. Or undead. There are just some Dumahim vampires that roam there, and they let me pass and stay, even if for a short time. During an afternoon, while I am kneeling down near the edge above the whirl of water powered by the falls, I sense a familiar presence nearing and some auras of the vampires ouside disappear. Icarus gets on guard and walks away from me slowly without me noticing. When, as it happens often, I see him no more and he does not come back, I go searching for him.

<<Icarus?>>

I hear him growl. It is not a good sign.

<<Icarus come back!>>

He still growls.

<<Stay away from me, damned beast!>>

I run toward that strangely familiar male voice, finding my wolf in an attack stance that keeps under his eyes an humanoid blue skinned creature, black short hair with central hairline, eyes complitely white with a sinister light, two membranes dangling on his back and a brown scarf with two white simbols on its face. It is so thin that I can see its ribcage, spine and waist, no abdomen or anything in the inside, and its skin is so thin that its tendons and mussles, or that little he has, are shown through it. It has bifid hand and feet, arm covered by some worn out bandages and its lower legs have something that could remind some armor.

<<Icarus!!>>

The animal jumps on the wraith but it pushes him on the grown on the side with a single movement of his arm.

<<Leave that wolf alone, demon!>>

I unseathe the sword and throw myself to the unknown figure that easilly parries my blow and just with his talons. It is taller than me by a couple of inches but it does not have difficulty in rejecting me.

<<What does a woman do here? There are only vampires in this place>>

<<I am not an ordinary woman! I am a vampire too>>

<<What? And they did not attack you? ...wait a moment…>>

I jump back, Icarus attacks again but is thrown towards me.

<<Icarus!>>

I go to him to see if he is fine, He gets up and stays between me and that undead.

<<Stay here Icarus…it is strong…but…I feel like…I know you…you have a falimiliar aura…>>

I lower my sword and stare at it. Something in my chest moves, but I cannot understand what.

<<That voice…that hair…those eyes…it cannot be…>>

It’s eyes open wide and it lowers his guard. I look better at his scarf and those symbols: Razielim clan. The sword drops to the floor and I remain speechless. My necklace warms up and memories come back on the surface of my mind.

<<W-what…>>

The wraith comes near despite the growilng of the wolf.

<<Is it really you? Tell me that this is true…>>

Icarus understands that the creature has no bad intentions and stop menacing it, walking and positioning himself by my side.

<<Niah…?>>

<<H-how…how do you know my name?>>

It takes my hands giving me a familiar sensation.

<<Oh Niah…I must have changed a lot that you cannot recognize me…it is not like that?>>

Its gaze is no more threatening like before, now is calm despite his looks say otherwise.

<<This voice…Raziel? I-Is it really you?>>

Tears stream down my face while I brush his cheekbones and hair.

<<What happened to you?>>

My voice is like a whisper, I cannot talk between tears and shock.

<<The Abyss consumed me, but an unknown entity saved me to have my revenge>>

<<You want to kill Kain?>>

He nods.

<<It has been centuries that I do not meet him…even if I think he knows I am still alive>>

<<Did you say centuries?>>

I nod. I tell him the exact number of years that has passed since the day of my escape. He stares at me bewildered.

<<You ran? And the clan?>>

I look at the ground, sad, guilty, retrieve my sword and put it back in its scabbard. I bring him to our old territory. He stays still in the central plaza of the building, looking at the torn banners and the skeletons of his soldiers, fledgings and sons.

<<Kain ordered a genocide…I could not…I did not…I could not make it…I was too scared…too shocked…I am sorry>>

I fall to my knees crying, covering my face with my hands. He kneels down and, after a few seconds of hesitation, he lays a hand on my shoulder.

<<I could have warned them…I could have saved them…>>

<<Niah…even if they were ready, they could not win against my brethren’s army. Our clan was strong, but they were outnumbered>>

<<But they could have escaped!>>

<<Not for long>>

I look at him still crying. That does not make me feel better. I see sorrow in his gaze, he hugs me tight, caressing my head being carefull not to pull my hair, now almost reaching my lower back while combed in a loose braid. I hug him back, feeling the familiar sensation of safeness that only him could give me. He helps me get on my feet, still holding me.

<<My “saviour” gave me a second life to have my vengance. But I am still weak and I need to regain my strenght and powers…these centuries in the Abyss drained me>>

I dry my cheeks and try to recompose myself.

<<I understand…>>

My eyes fall on what remains of his wings, I have to look away to not cry again.

<<I remember that moment like it was yesterday…>>

He moves a strand of hair away from my face and leans with his forehead on mine.

<<You are not the only one…but now we have to go on…and as first thing…I have to murder who betrayed me when I needed them>>

<<You want to kill your brothers too?>>

<<I have always been by their side, even in hard times, but I cannot tollerate what they did to me>>

<<They followed an order, Raziel. You cannot hate them for this>>

<<I put myself in danger quite a lot of times for them going against Kain’s will…and he put them against me>>

He is still stubborn as ever and I know I cannot make him change his mind. Sad, knowing that his brothers will probably have a bad end, nod to his will still drying my cheeks. Icarus comes to me and hits my hand with his nose.

<<And this?>>

<<I saved him from a couple of wolves…and a hunter weeks later…a few month after all of this…>>

I open an arm pointing to the territory once full of “life”.

<<What?? You mean that->>

<<Yes…I managed to give him immortality with a spell after that hunter wounded him badly>>

<<You managed to do a spell of this sophistication?>>

<<In Vorador’s abbandoned manor I had some time to study a little>>

<<…you have a lot of things to narrate me then…>>


	19. New Adventure

While we walk towards Melchiah’s Necropolis, I tell him about my escape from the empire, the meeting with Icarus, Kain’s attempt to kill me, the Mansion and a recap of those centuries in almost solitude.

<<And did you not find another? I mean…>>

I lay a hand on his shoulder and look him in the eyes smiling.

<<I could never do that…Kain could have come to knowledge…and I could never betray you or our clan>>

<<But you did not know I was alive…if I can still say that>>

<<Do not say that, my heart has always and will be only yours>>

I get near his visage trying to lay with my lips on his but he stops me at mere inches from him. I look at him sad and disappointed but I see a sorrow and guilty gaze in his eyes.

<<I am so sorry…>>

<<What…what happens?>>

He lowers his banner that much that consents me to show me his sentire face. His jaw is complitely absent, his throat is empty and it looks like a bottomless pit. Pained by the sight, I near again and place a kiss on his cheekbone, surprising him.

<<It does not matter…you are here again now and it is this that is important>>

<<I am no more like before, Niah…my body no longer has anything>>

<<It has not been your body that I was interested in when we met…but your way of doing, your acts, your feelings…did you really think that was only the outside to be important to me?>>

He stares at me with wide eyes, speechless, then he bows his head.

<<You are right…you were not like other womans…they only wanted pleasure…but when I met you, you changed my life complitely. With the thought of being immortal I never thought that someone could steal my rotten heart>>

He takes my hands and bring them to his chest. I make a step nearer and lay my head on his shoulder and we hug tight.

<<I missed you so much…>>

<<Me too Niah…you have no idea…>>

I hear Icarus growling.

<<Huh? What is it Icarus?>>

He stares at us showing his fangs. Or rather, his gaze is only on Raziel.

<<He must not like me that much…>>

I look at them confused, then I start laughing and almost lose balance.

<<Aw come on! Do not tell me you are jealous>>

I ruffle the fur on his head and he licks my hand while Raziel sighs.

<<I was there first>>

<<Now now, do not fight>>

<<He was the one to begin!>>

<<Raziel, you are almost two thousand years old, do not be such a baby! And you too, Icarus. I did not turn you when you were a pup>>

They glare at each other and then walk by me each on a side.

<<This will be a long journey…>>

During the path it is him to lead the way. He says that it is dangerous now that the voice of his returning is spreading. And I did not survive for almost five centuries to hunters and some vampires that went against their clan master, right? Maybe he just wants to protect me, now that he can. The more we get near the Necropolis, the more Melchiah’s sons become numerous and attack us. They do not recognize me anymore. I am forced to defend myself understanding that this is the reason why Raziel’s brothers wanted me to distance them. It is not a beautiful sight when we meet Melchiah. He has become a mass of corpses sewn toghether. Being the weaker of the brothers, the need of blood grew so much that his soldiers and him were forced to feed on human flesh too. I am being blocked outside the room by a gate that falls almost immediately after Raziel walks in. My heart breaks seeing with how much spite Raziel and his brother fight, but just before the toothed wheel crushes him, I see like a bit of regret in his eyes. His last sentence echoes through the walls of the room a few seconds more.

<<I am released…>>

Melchiah’s soul floats in the air and Raziel absorbes it sucking it in his throat. I did not notice how mch he has changed, during the fight with the soldiers I did not see him eating souls. His brother’s spirit, he tells me, gives him the capability of trepassing fisical barriers in the spectral realm. He told me about where he found himself once he woke up from the torment of the Abyss, and thanks to a portal he managed to come back.

<<Now I can say they have changed…they have been so kind to me…untill they begun to evolve and forget me…>>

I touch the made up banner on my waist, wrapped as abelt, and brush it with melancholy. Raziel places a hand on my shoulder.

<<It is Kain’s fault if they are against us…and probably he knows you are still alive too…or he will come to knowledge soon>>

We set off to the Silent Cathedral, wher Zephon’s clan lives. In the way there we run into the Sanctuary of the Clans, where Kain’s throne lays under the Pillars of Nosgoth. Raziel, using his new skill, passes in the spectral realm and, after pulling some levers, opens the way to me and Icarus. We enter in the big circular room of the corrupted columns and, waiting for us, we find Raziel and his brethren’s father. The doors close behind us.

<<Raziel...>>

<<Kain>>

<<The Abyss has been unkind…we meet again Niah>>

I lay a hand on the hilt of my sword but Raziel steps in front of me and shields me with an arm.

<<I am your creation, Kain…now as before. You criticize your own work>>

Kain stands and walks in the center of the room, casually but menacingly, while approaches him.

<<What have you done with my clan, degenerate? You have no right!>>

<<What I have made I can also destroy, _child_ >>

<<Damn you, Kain!! You are not God! This act of genocide is unconscionable!>>

Kain becomes gloomy hearing the threats in the tone of voice his ex first Leutenant is using with him.

<<Conscience? You dare speak to me of conscience? Only when you have felt the full gravity of choice should you dare to question _my_ judgement!>>

They are now mere inches apart, Kain looks at Raziel from above. In theese centuries he did not lose his confidence.

<<Your life’s span is a flicker compared to the mass of doubt and regret that I have borne since Mortanius first turned me from the light>>

The vampire father of the six clans walks around Raziel, examining him.

<<To know that the fate of the world hangs dependent on the adviseness of my every deed…can you even begin to conceive what action you would take in my position?>>

<<I would choose integrity, Kain>>

The green skinned vampire stops again in front of his blue skinned creature, looks at him a few seconds in the eyes and…laughs.

<<Look around you, Raziel…>>

He opens his arms pointing at the area around us.

<<See what has become of our empire…witness the end of an age…the clans, scattered to the corners of Nosgoth…>>

He lets his arms fall, like surrending

<<This place has oulasted its usefulness…as have you>>

With his right arm he reaches the blade on his back and gets ready to attack, but vanishes.

<<Niah, leave him to me!>>

Icarus and I move behind a column just before Kain could appear in our place with his sword drawn. Raziel reaches him and the two of them begin to fight, him with bare hands and his nemesis with the Reaver. After a while, Kain gets stunned by a taken blow, but with the help of the sword as a catalyst, he paralyzes Raziel with a field of electric beams, making him fall strengthless. Then he raises the Reaver and throws it on Raziel that tries to parry the attack with an arm.

<<Raziel no!!>>

I have no time to go out of my hiding spot that I see an explosion and purplish sparks, an earthquake shakes the room, then fragments of the blade land around them.

<<W-what…>>

Kain is incredulous and delighted, but he recomposes almost immediately.

<<The blade is vanquished…so it unfolds…and we are a step closer to our destinies…>>

Kain gives me a last glance and half a smile, than vanishes definetly, laughing like crazy. I run right away to Raziel, slumped over the ground in front of his old master’s throne, but he vanishes too in front of my eyes.

<<No! No…not again…>>

I fall to my knees tightening my hands on my chest. Icarus comes to me and tries to comfort me rubbing his head on mine. I get up leaning on him and trying to keep the tears for myself.

<<Just when I have found him again…>>


	20. Desecrated

I walk dejectet to the doors, but they are locked.

<<And now we are trappend in here…>>

Observing them better, on their surface there are carved two Reaver’s silhouettes and, in the center, a simil keyhole surrounded by rays.

<<Maybe…>>

I draw my sword and concentrate. The liliac energy begins to flow on it and change it when a sound coming from behind me distracts me making me turn. Raziel is there with a blue stream of energy wrapped around his right arm and it extends from his hand like a blade. He observes it a few seconds and blows some hits, then he turns towards me. Seeing me almost in tears he runs to me and hugs me tight. I hug him back letting escape a few sobs.

<<Hush…everything is fine…I am here…>>

He caresses me on the head slowly, waiting for me to calm down.

<<I thought…the sword…I do not…I am not used to see you vanish like that…>>

He leans with his forehead on mine.

<<I already told you…when I am out of energies or recieve a lot of wounds I go back to the spectral realm…but I can come back>>

<<Yes, I know…It is just…I fear that I could lose you again…I do not know where you can appear, I cannot know if you can pass through hidden passages unknown to me…I…>>

He lays a hand on my cheek and raises my head to make me look at him.

<<Now that I know that you are alive, if I should progress or change place while in the other realm, I will search for you, for how much it will be possible…but I want you to go on anyway, no matter what…we will meet down the road as soon as possible, alright?>>

I nod drying my free cheek. Then our eyes fall again on the doors, he looks at his hand and covers it once more with that blue energy in the shape of a sword, insert it in the keyhole and the doors open immediately. I look at him openmouthed.

<<Uh? What is it?>>

<<The…Reaver? But how?>>

<<How do you know what is this?>>

<<Well…from the symbols on the doors I guessed that only that sword could open them>>

<<Oh…yes, right. Well, when I fell in the other realm, after Kain’s blow, the blade’s essence let me absorb it>>

<<Got it…>>

I go near his arm, careful not to touch it. If the Reaver is infused in him, I would not want my soul to get ripped from it. We exit the sanctuary, Raziels walks with his head low, thinking.

<<Raziel? Is something troubleling you?>>

<<Kain is an egoist…>>

<<I think it was known, it is not?>>

<<What I mean is that if it was not for him, the Pillars would still be whole. He is the Guardian of Balance. The only way to restore them is that he sacrifices himself>>

Seeing my confused gaze, he tells me about his encounter with Ariel, the ghost of a woman forced to stay within the Pillars becaouse of Kain’s refused sacrifice for the mythical columns. We go back on our jorney towards the Silent Cathedral, Zephon’s shelter. The building is a lot tall, it seems like the tip is invisible from the ground, it is surrounded by a canal full of stagnant water and the entrance is blocked once more by the Reaver lock.

<<If it is closed like this…it means that only Kain could open it…so he closed them inside…>>

Raziel looks at me a bit confused, then realizes and nods. I let him open the passage but a rusty gate blocks the way.

<<Double precaution, huh?>>

<<Do not worry, I will find a way to let you in>>

He lays his hand on my shoulder squeezing it lightly to reassure me, then vanishes. A sigh escapes from my lips while Icarus nears the gate and sniffs though them. He pulls his ears back and growls to something, a ticking sound of long and thin legs reaches my hearing and a deformed creature stops and tries to hit us through the bars. Its arms and legs are so thin that they look like as they could break under its weight. Zephon’s sons. A spectral blade trepasses the chest of the thing that once was a Zephonim vampire, leaving it lifeless.

<<Greasy and gross…who would have told that the evolution would bring so much squalor…>>

He searches for a lever and lower it, opening the gate for me and the wolf. We find other Zephonim members, some of them wrap corpses in spiderweb and attach them to the walls, others patrol the area. Zephon’s aura comes from above, more powerful of his sons’, but the only way to get up there is to turn on the brass canes of the Cathedral, in disuse for centuries. We look for the rooms we need to open the flows of air for the canes so we can go up, but not having the possibility to use them, Icarus and I stay on the groud floor, waiting for Raziel to return. A couple of hours pass before he comes back down, after a seismic tremor, gliding with his membranous and boneless wings. He tells me that, absorbing Zephon’s soul, he gained the ability to climb on riuned walls, and he wants to go back to the Pillars. He senses like there is something important that calls for him there and he wants to figure out what it is. Despite the bad feeling, we leave the Cathedral and head again towards Kain’s throne. While he climbs the column, Icarus helps me getting the momentum and jump on the same level, then he reaches us with an elegance that seems impossible for a creature of his size. We find a corridor that leads us in a valley full of Dumahim. At the end of the way, at the bottom, there is a building with circular base. The Sarafan crypt. Opened the gate for me and my companion, we walk though the hallway. Raziel stops a little far from the entrace, like if he is listening to someone. Then, more decisively, moves the cubic rock that blocks the entrace of the shrine. A blow of heavy air runs over us while we enter, and what there is in front of us petrifies us. At the borders of the room, digged in the walls, there are seven rock tombs and there is a name carved above each of them.

<<Zephon…Malek…Melchiah…>>

<<Turel, Dumah, Rahab…>>

And in the middle…Raziel. The vibrations of Kain’s act are still perceivable on the fingertips brushing the top of the marble coffins.

<<I have been…a Sarafan…>>

I see him tighten his fist in an attempt to hold back his growing rage for his Sire and creator. I am laying a hand on his shoulder but he turns and goes out without looking back. I follow him after a sigh and petting the wolf’s muzzle that tries once more to distract me a little.

<<Raziel…>>

<<What?>>

Despite his annoyed behaviour I fasten my pace and walk beside him.

<<I am sorry I->>

I have not the time to brush his arm that he gets away from my touch with a rapid move and stops to look at me. I can almost see the white flames in his eyes.

<<You what? Do you have the slitest idea what it is like to find out that I have been one of those who hunted what I became?! The blasphemy behind the action of one being that became the one and only I swore loyalty to and that threw me away like a rotting carcass?!>>

With a nervous gesture he moves his right arm projecting a sphere of energy towards the wall nearby. All the three of us look at the collision point with held breath, Icarus emits a low growl against the new percieved menace while I back off a little, slowly, emotionless.

<<Niah…I am sorry…I…>>

<<…you what?>>

He looks at me in the eyes, I can sense his glance even if he has no irisis or pupils. Then he looks down.

<<I did not have to…forgive me…>>

I look away, he never attacked me this way. Never.

<<Lets go…we have to proceed…>>

I walk in fornt of him, I want to exit from here as soon as possible. He follows me. His pace has changed, from furious to guilty. We have to split, some gates keep me to go with him. I hop on Icarus’ back and tell Raziel that I would meet him at the Drowned abbey. He nods and disappears, leaving me alone with the wolf once again.

<<Come on Icarus…lets go>>

I brush the fur on his head before he sprints towards Rahab’s shelter. During the jurney I rest laying prone on the wolf’s back, his movements are fast but smooth and I am able to mantain stability. Some hours later we reach the Abbey, rain falls continuously, like it has always been since Kain’s empire in this zone of Nosgoth. Rahab and his lineage, thanks to their invulnerability to water, abbandoned the surface where even the weaker rays of sun could burn them. I am getting down from Icarus when I hear glass breaking. The windows of the building shatter one by one, then an agonizing scream. The Abbey shakes like in an earthquake, then silence.

<<He already killed him…>>

I lower my head in salute, like I did for the first two brothers to perish. I see Raziel’s blue silhouette fall from the bell tower and reach me swimming. I kneel to help him come out of the water, but with a powerful sprint he jumps out on his own landing near Icarus. He shakes away the water drops from his hair and banner, splashing, as a result, the wolf that looks at him slightly annoyed.

<<So…where do we go now?>>

<<Next one on the list is Dumah…>>

He activates the Reaver on his arm, but its color is different: now it emanates a very warm orange hue, that seems like it could spread heat if you got closer.

<<I found a fire forge under the abbey…it will be useful>>

<<Wow…well, it is a litte paradox for a fire forge to be in a place full of water>>

<<Maybe it was there before this place flooded>>

<<…yes, it could be>>

We sit there for a while listening to the falling rain and studying the shortest way to reach Dumah.

<<We have to swim, there is an immersed passage under that rock wall…can the beast dive?>>

Icarus, who is laying beside us, hits Raziel with his tail on the back of his head and I hold a laugh.

<<He is immortal, I do not think he needs to breathe like living animals, so I think he could do it>>

I scratch the wolf under the chin and he lays his head on my lap. He always had a soft fur, so much that it seems fake. Raziel rubs his nape giving a bad gaze to the animal by my side.

<<Very well…lets go then>>

He stands and offers me his hand, Icarus growls lightly while standig but I ignore him taking it anyway. He helps me getting up, I fix and dust off myself, then we walk on the ledge of the building to dive afterwards. But under the rocky wall there is a gate that we did not know about. It is rusty, so Raziel tries to move it, break it or lift it, but nothing happens. The wolf opens his jaw and, with a powerful bite, snaps the metal bars. He lets me pass through first, then I see him show his teeth to my mate and pass for second. Raziel raises his eyes to the sky before trepassing the passage. I shake my head with half a smile and move forward with them. I am sure that they will get along…eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I'm sorry to keep you waiting, but I still havr to translate at least 10 chapters and write the others, that's why I keep adding one chapter at time. I hope my will to write returns asap so I can finish this
> 
> Thank you all for your patience!


	21. The Ash Village

We re-emerge on the other side, a cold blow of wind runs over us, a gurgling not that unknown addresses my companions gaze to my abdomen.

<<Niah…since when do you not eat?>>

<<A couple of days…and my supplies where in my bag…>>

<<Melchiah’s sons?>>

<<Yes…they destroyed it and I could not recuperate anything…>>

He sighs.

<<Can you resist a little longer? There is not a lot around here>>

<<I think so…we endured hunger often>>

Icarus, during the journey, fed on the ex vampires carcasses. I, otherwise, did not want to consume meat of my species. I managed to drink human blood from some guards near the Necropolis, but since then I did not put anything under my teeth. I begin to feel my human part as a burden in this adventure, hunger and tiredness are slowing me down. We camp near a little bonfire to dry, some of the Dumahim detect our presence and come to us.

<<They still try to protect their Sire…what a futile gesture>>

They fall like every other one before them, burned by the Reaver infused in flames. Proceeding in the fortress we come across a room with an incenerator thing-like that destroys the door which leads to a drawbridge, then to a room with an obelisk in its center surrounded by tall gates. An opening high on the opposite wall of the next door attacts our attention.

<<I cannot reach that ledge from here…maybe in the Spectral Realm>>

<<What do you plan to do?>>

<<Make the obelisk fall on the door>>

I study the design of the room, the height of the wall, then Icarus and Raziel.

<<What if…>>

I tell the canid to place himself under the wall with the opening, I climb on his back staying on my feet and cross my hands by the fingers to form like a step.

<<What are you doing?>>

<<I want to toss you on the edge of that opening>>

<<Are you mad? I may be a walking corpse but I am not that light>>

<<Raziel, we are three walking cospes…two and a half, and all of us have the strength superior to humans…lets try, if we fail you can try with the Spectral Realm>>

<<Are you sure?>>

I nod.

<<I count to three and you jump here. Icarus, give me the momentum when I say so, understood?>>

The wolf makes a verse in assent and readies himself while Raziel walks back to get a running start. There is not a lot of space between the gates ant the wall, so he stops on the side ready to turn. I count to three, Raziel runs and jumps, landing on my hands, I give Icarus the signal that jumps, but while I raise my hands to help Raziel jump higher, my fingers untangle and he barely reaches the edge with his claws.

<<Sorry! Are you all right?>>

<<Damn it…I got this->>

I jump down from the wolf, Raziel tries to climb up, but the surface is oblicuous and he slips remaining hung with a hand.

<<Raziel! No no no!>>

I try to concentrate on him, I sense my tiredness grow when a light blue hue wraps aroun him, I imagine to take him from the shoulders and pull him up, as if I was in front of him, and with the telekinesis I am able to help him on the surface of the hole in the wall. When he touches the ground he spreads his arms and regain stability, then he turns and looks at me. I tiredly smile at him and lean on Icarus to keep myself on my feet.

<<Are you all right?>>

<<Yes…telekinesis absorbs quite some energy, especially if I am weakened…>>

<<Telekinesis? So it was you to…>>

I nod again, my legs give in and I fall to my knees.

<<Niah!!>>

<<I am fine! Do not worry about me…knock down the obelisk>>

I see him back up and run, jump, glide and then fall full force on the tip of the column that, with the push, wobbles to the side and crashes on the gate and destroys the big door blocking our way. Then Raziel runs toward me and helps me standimg back up.

<<Are you sure you are fine?>>

<<Yes…I am sorry, I am slowing you down…>>

<<Slowing me down? If it was not for you I would have made all the way up there on my own, and who knows how much time it would have taken>>

He helps me climb again on Icarus that whines slightly.

<<Do not worry, buddy, I just need to rest…>>

<<Go on…I will take care of Dumah>>

<<Are you sure?>>

<<Yes, I will reunite with you outside>>

I take his hand that is laying on the wolf’s back and tighten it lightly.

<<Be careful…>>

He tighten mine in turn and I can sense a little smile on his disfigured face.

<<I will>>

He runs towards the door and disappears in the hallway that I think will lead him to his brother. I brush the canid’s head who slowly walks back on our tracks. We are in the incenarator room when I hear steps run towards us. I turn around and see Raziel being chased by Dumah, big and tall like he is, he makes quake the ground with every step.

<<Niah! The fire!>>

The brother stomps, making Icarus lose grip and that unsaddle me leaving me stunned on the ground. Raziel jumps near the gas lever and activetes it, but when he goes to the other one he notices that Dumah is in the center of the room. And holds me from my braid lifting me from the ground.

<<No!!>>

He jumps down and tries to hit him, but Dumah throws him away with a swing of his arm and starts to suck my energy. I try to free myself, but my strength abandons me and I cannot even raise my arms.

<<Let her go!>>

<<Did you soften over the centuries, brother? You are weak, you cannot stop me!>>

A growl, from both my companions.

<<Icarus! The lever!>>

I see a blurred gray smudge hopping on the ramp and bite the mechanism, a more blurred blue spot gets near dodging and ducking Dumah’s attacks, grabs the knife I keep on my belt and, with a fast blow, he cuts the braid brazing my neck with the blade. He catches me before I could fall and jumps away holding me tight.

<<What?!>>

<<Now!!>>

Icarus pulls the lever and starts the big blow torch, burning the menace and killing another Kain’s son. I struggle to regain my senses, but my sight is blurred. Raziel keeps my back raised and grips my hand.

<<Niah? Niah?!>>

I sense his worry in the way he looks at me and I try to grip back his hand to make him understand that I am fine. The sound of a relieved sigh escapes from what remains of his chest, he lifts me from my back and legs and helps me lay back on the wolf. The two of them look at each other for a few of seconds, then Raziel pats a couple times the animals back.

<<Good job Icarus…>>

The wolf barks lowly and wags his tail slowly, making me smile a little.

<<These are my boys…>>

We go back to our journey, the way to Kain’s refuge in the mountains is at a few days long, at human pace. Luckily, during the road we find sporadic animals and fruit trees, so we search for a little shelter and, despite Raziel’s always growing want of vengance, we stop for a night in a little cave. Icarus and I fill ourselves, the wolf laying down and my mate and I leaning on him with our backs. The unexpected haircut makes me feel lighter and, even if it was an impulsive move, it has been precise. I make myself comfy and lean my head on Raziel’s shoulder. His body changed, but his aura calms me nonetheless. I sense him stiffen, maybe he did not expect such a contact, but after a few moments he wraps my shoulders with his arm and lays his head on mine. My eyelids become heavy soon, so I definetly surrender to my tiredness and close my eyes.After centuries, I see a scepter I have already seen, a staff with a big Crystal sphere on the top and a red snake with yellow abdomen as a decoration.

<<That thing…Moebius?!>>

A lot of pictures pass before my eyes. Old memories of when I was human, my turning, then the Abyss, my escape and Icarus. Afterwards I see the Clans, the changes they underwent, and I realize that Turel has disappeared since decades, maybe centuries, and nobody knows where he could be. Then Raziel’s return and the adventures of those days. A curve hallway with some sort of black mirror-like openings that show something, a round chamber with some gears and a portal, Kain that goes through it, a manor, snow, black feathers, blood. Then other confused and unrecognizable scenes. Thel, I fall in the void.


	22. Puzzles, riddles and more enigmas

I wake up falling to the side and I catch my self before hitting the ground. Icarus rises his head and looks at me tilting it. I take a deep breath and calm down, but looking around I do not see my other companion.

<<Raziel…?>>

I get up rubbing my eyes and peek outside the cave to look for him. He is sitting on a rock near the entrace with his back towards it. I walk to him and see him lost in thought.

<<Raziel?>>

I touch his shoulder and he jumps back landing on his spine on the ground.

<<Oh my! Sorry Raziel, are you all right?>>

I help him on his feet and dust him off, my hands brush the limbs of skin attached to his back causing him a shiver. A moment of nostalgy and sadness pervades me when he looks at me.

<<Forgive me…I did non mean to…>>

He sighs.

<<Do not worry…I was just distracted>>

Then he looks at my hair and, with a gentleness that I do not expect, he fixes the back of my head, ruffled from sleep.

<<Thank you…shall we go?>>

<<Yes…I uh…I allowed myself to go back and retrieve one of Dumah’s old banners, so you can use it as a bag or something like that>>

He hands me the cloth, washed a while before. Even if it is worn out, it is still thick and resistant enough and, being big, I can tie it around my chest.

<<Oh thank you…wait, did you leave me alone?>>

<<Just for a little time, and you were not alone, Icarus was awake when I left>>

The wolf walks to me and brushes his head on my arm.

<<…very well…but next time wake me up and warn me>>

<<Alright>>

We take some other fruits and I put them in my “new” sack, then we leave running to our destination. In a few hours we run into some sort of antichamber where we find an enigma, some large rocks have to be moved from one side of the room to the other and stuck under certain symbols for us to be able to open the large door that blocks out path. Once it is open and the gate beyond crushed we make our way to the Seer’s cave. The fire in the middle of the three-sided pyramid is lit. Raziel tells me that this is where Kain met Moebius for the first time.

<<Moebius? The old man?>>

<<Yes...do you know him?>>

<<I met him centuries ago... while I was running from Kain...>>

<<That sorcerer belonged with the Circle of the Nine, and can manipulate time to his liking>>

<<So he can travel through it...>>

<< Although Kain killed him before creating me and my brothers? Might be>>

We walk closer to the center and the feel of Kain’s presence starts getting stronger and stronger. With the power gained from Dumah’s soul, Raziel can activate a gear that makes the wall revolve and we find ourselves in a round chamber, a statue of the old man standing between two levers. Icarus growls at the sculpture, ready to strike.

<<Shh...calm down…good boy...>>

<<Is that Moebius?>>

<<Yes...>>

<<Hm...he is different than what I imagined...but...>>

<<He is powerful...I perceived so when I met him...>>

I pet the wolf, both giving and seeking comfort. That statue gives me the creeps. With the levers, we illuminate the floor with a beam of light that opens a passage in the stone. Another puzzle to be solved without problems. Once the door is opened, we walk down still, and another lock stops us. The clans’ symbols, all together, like so long ago. I touch my waist, the Banner of the five clans as a belt reminds me of all the time I spent with them.

<<Why did it have to end like this...>>

Raziel is already moving to open the umpteenth gate. We go down once more and a sense of claustrophobia starts to invade me. How far underground are we? We turn some gears that move a small hanging bridge and we walk to the other side, down a corridor which leads us to another puzzle.

<<Really? Another one?>>

<<If Kain believes he can keep us out, he is badly mistaken>>

We solve the cubes’ image, then more symbols and gears. Then we enter a corridor, again going down. A familiar corridor. A cold tremor runs down my spine making gooseflesh bloom on my skin.

<<I don’t like this place...>>

<<Kain is here. I do not want to let him get away>>

He moves forward, Icarus and I following a short distance behind him. After a little while we stumble across a hole in a wall and a thick layer of roiling darkness attracts us. Through the dark we can see Raziel’s arrival in the spirit realm. I notice huge tentacles and enormous, staring eyes that give me a sense of nausea. I see Raziel’s past self look around, look at himself, fall to his knees.

<<My arrival in this miserable age... what trickery is this?!>>

Warily he ignores that vision in favour of going forward, I follow him while the nausea increases. Another portal, this time it is showing Kain breaking the Reaver in two upon Raziel.

<<These apparitions torment me... has this all been foretold?>>

A flashback reminds me of Kain’s gaze a few moments after the event, as if he had known. The next, the unearthing of the Sarafan’s tomb.

<<Impossible! This must be one of Kain’s deceptions!>>

I attempt to stop him, to try and make him see reason, but I cannot even touch him before he is standing at the following mirror. We are in the place where Kain met Moebius for the first time. And the old man can see into time’s folds and nooks and crannies. What is he not understanding? When I arrive there, I see Raziel’s probably imminent fight with Kain.

<<My mind reels with conflict.... does Kain await me in moments from now, or in some century yet to come?>>

The next. Raziel who, with the help of the spectral Reaver, absorbs the ghost of a woman creating a blade of light.

<<This cannot be! What madness does this scene portend? Kain must think me credulous to suffer these lies!>>

<<Who is that woman...>>

<<She is Ariel, the Pillars’ imprisoned spirit...>>

Visibly nervous, he walks forward once more, stopping in front of the next one. In it, Raziel’s arm is permeated with a black and red energy, powerful and dark, while he stares emotionlessly at his own doing.

<<Is this phantasm a conjuration of my mind... or an echo of future events?>>

While he walks away, I see a small glimpse of what that Raziel is looking at. In a corner, a large grey wolf lies lifeless on the ground, next to an agonising woman, who is pressing her hands on bleeding ears. Panic invades me.

<<No...no no no no!>>

I shrink back, Raziel stares confusedly at me, a loud whistle deafens me and I don’t hear him calling my name as I fall to my knees.

<<Niah!>>

Icarus, too, shies back from the vision with lowered ears, with a sad whine he gets close to me. Raziel keeps on not understanding, the vision fades to black. He walks close and tries to shake me. I stare at the floor, on the verge of tears, and I press on my ears, the whistle seems not to disappear.

<<Niah please answer me! What is happening?!>>

I squeeze my eyes shut, letting a few sobs escape.

<<It cannot end like this... it cannot... I do not want to die!>>

He hugs me tightly, catching me by surprise.

<<Calm down... it will not appen... I will not allow it>>

<<If what we saw is true... then it will happen... and we cannot stop it...>>

<<It will not happen. I promise>>

He delicately wipes my tears away and lays the ghost of a kiss on my forehead. Despite the lack of flesh and jaw, it feels like his lips are really there on my skin. I stare at him for a few second, then I nod. He helps me to my feet, I hug Icarus to comfort both of us, then we walk towards the end of the corridor. And we open the doors.

<<At last…>>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been a pain, so my thanks go to my friend NoxArkana who helped me translate this hellish group of damned enigmas  
> If you haven't, go check NoxArkana's LoK and other fanfics, I love how they are written and she is an angel <3


	23. Travel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, let's advance in the sory with the ending of Soul Reaver and the beginning of Soul Reaver 2  
> Enjoy!

Our eyes fall on Kain’s sillhouette. In the round room divided on more floors, Raziel’s creator appears from behind a column. On the central floor there is the infinite sympon in gold on white background. The walls change between the columns from rock and gears, on the ceiling a sphere with three enormous metal claws and, opposite from us, a portal.

<<I must say, I am disappointed in your progress. I imagined you would be here sooner>>

Icarus growls taking an attacking stance, Raziel blocks both of us with an arm.

<<Tell me...did it trouble you to murder your brothers?>>

<<Did it trouble you when you ordered me into the Abyss?>>

Raziel goes down the stairs while Kain, laughing, moves one of the needles on the second floor of the room, powering up the sphere on the ceiling that starts to spinn.

<<Eternity is relentless, Raziel. When I first stole into this chamber, centuries ago, I did not fathom the true power of knowledge>>

He moves, going in front of the portal that now emanates a blue light.

<<To know the future, Raziel, to see its paths and streams tracing out into the infinite…as a man I could never have contained such forbidden truths>>

My mate tightens his fists and Icarus moves forward, on alert.

<<But each of us is so much more than we once were…do you not feel with all your soul how we have become like gods?>>

He creates a light and lightning sphere between his hands, making it disappear a little later. Then he descends the stairs, looking at his first son.

<<And as such…are we not indivisible? As long as one of us stands, we are legion>>

Raziel moves closer, while Kain goes towards another gear, on the first floor this time.

<<Our futures are predestined. Moebius foretold mine aeons ago. We each play out the parts fate has written for us. Free will is an illusion...>>

He moves the second switch, giving more power to the sphere.

<<I found the Tomb of Sarafan, Kain. How could you profane a priest by turning him into a vampire?!>>

Raziel jumps on the curved wall assaulting Kain, that however grabs him like he weights nothing.

<<How could I not? One must keep his friends close, Raziel…and his enemies even closer>>

He throws his son on the floor, making him land on the center of the room.

<<Raziel!>>

I take a few steps down to go and help him but he raises a hand. He does not want me to get close to them. He wants Kain all to himself. The enemy jumps down nearing the third needle.

<<Who better to serve me than those passion transcends all notions of good and evil?>>

Raziel gets up giving him his back, then turns around, annoyed over the limit.

<<The Sarafan were saviors, defending Nosgoth from the corruption that we represent…my eyes are opened, Kain…I find no nobility in the unlife you rudely forced on my unwilling corpse!>>

He jumps on him, hitting him multiple times and pushing him against the wall and blocking him on the metal gears.

<<You may have uncovered your past, but you know nothing of it. You think the Sarafan were noble, altruistic?>>

Kain frees himself and with an explosion of energy throws Raziel on the other side of the chamber, making him crush part of the column, and laughs. I run down the steps to reach Raziel and help him on his feet, Icarus on my side ready to defend us.

<<Don’t be simple…their agenda was the same as ours>>

He activates the third group of gears and the claws around the sphere tighten creating a strike of lighting that hits the portal, from blue it changes to white.

<<You nearly had me, Raziel...>>

Kain teleports in front of the aperture.

<<But this is not where, or, how, it ends…fate promises more twists before this drama unfolds…completely>>

He turns around and enters the portal getting covered from that light energy and disappears. Raziel stands up and runs towards the portal.

<<Raziel wait!>>

<<I will not let him escape from me!>>

He stops in front of the wirl of energy, luckily giving me and Icarus the time to reach him. He summons the Reaver and readies himself to jump.

<<Damn it Raz->>

I grab his left arm with a hand while hugging the wolf by the neck with the other. We are throwing ourselves in who knows what without knowing where we will end landing. Around us alternates black and white, between the changes of color I see a few pictures. Snow, a part of the Circle of Nine slaughtered, Ariel murdered, the Pillars corrupted, a man getting killed, that man that seeks for vengeance as a vampire, a journey. A battle, two Soul Reavers against each other, one held by a human, the other by the vampire. A guillotine, an old man blaming the vampire, the death of the old man, vampires being persecuted, then again the Pillars. And a choice. A few thunders surround us when we slowly land, the smoke begins to dissipate.

<<Raziel...redeemer and destroyer...>>

That voice…

<<...pawn and messiah...>>

A silhouette dressed in purple and gold, a shepter with a crystal sphere on top and a red snake with yellow abdomen wrapped around it steps in the haze.

<<...welcome, time-spanned soul...welcome…to your destiny>>

The fog disappears, the arm I keep around Icarus moves to go and wrap around Raziel’s arm. The wolf, as he sees the man, begins to growl menacingly.

<<Look who is here too…>>

He bows slightly his head to me.

<<Moebius...>>

<<Where are we, old man?>>

<<This is the usual question one could ask…in your case, “when” might be more apt>>

The crystal ball on the staff lightens up and Raziel’s phantom blade vanishes right before he could strike. I let him go, he looks at his hand and Moebius seems bewildered from what happened.

<<Very well, you old snake…if you prefer I use my bare hands…>>

He bolts forward blocking the man to the wall with an arm.

<<This is completely unexpected…this orb disables our vampires enemies, leaving them helpless and incapacitated>>

I unseathe my sword feeling just the tiniest bit of the magic pressure on my chest and Icarus stays by my side on guard.

<<Strangely, it seems to have the same effect on that peculiar weapon of yours. But you must believe me, I mean no harm>>

<<Tsk...>>

<<You can drop the benevolent façade, Moebius. I know who and what you are. I should kill you where you stand>>

The old man laughs, knowing how that encounter would have ended.

<<Perhaps you should, my boy. But you _don’t_ >>

<<Are you certain of that, Moebius?>>

<<My role as Time Guardian affords me a certain level of omniscience, Raziel…no…you don’t kill me, that honor belongs to your maker, Kain, some thirty years from now>>

Raziel lets him go not just a little annoied.

<<Hmph! You two are a pair! You are as fatalistic as he is>>

<<Death comes for us all, Raziel. It’s just matter of time>>

<<How is that you know my name? We have never met>>

Moebius exits the chamber, expecting us to follow him. And so we do.

<<On the contrary, Raziel, I know you very well. And it grieves me to see how cruelly Kain has used you>>

The chamber we arrived in has a glass floor, the walls are a lot similar to those from the one we departed. We enter in a larger room, in stone, with paintings on the walls and a basin in the center.

<<I knew you when you were one of the Sarafan brotherhood, Raziel. We were even _close_ >>

<<Oh please…>>

We say it in unison, revolted.

<<Fortunately, you need not love now to be my ally…and with you your mate>>

The columns in the room are like spirals, decorated on the top and bottom, and in front of each one there is a lit candlestick. On the wall to our left, a painting with a green skinned vampire assassinates someone, on the background impaled bodies. On the other walls the same vampire, but different humans in each painting. A memento to all the people killed by that “monster”. Vorador.

<<Are we within the Stronghold of the Sarafan priesthood?>>

<<Yes, but the glorious days of the Sarafan have long since passed, I am afraid>>

We look around us. A strange sensation pervades me, I make Icarus come near me and I lay a hand on his back, trying to calm him and myself down.

<<This is a more…cynical and indecorous age…my mercenary army now inhabits this stronghold. We strive to honor the memory of the Sarafan with our own humble crusade>>

Raziel turns towards the painting I was looking to before.

<<Is this the vampire Vorador? >>

<<Yes, the scourge of the Circle>>

The picture I saw during the time travel comes back in my mind, more clear this time.

<<The most depraved and decadent example of his whole degenerate race!>>

I glance at the back of his head growling even slightly.

<<He slaughtered six of my fellow Guardians as they cowered, defenseless, in this room>>

<<And you somehow survived this massacre?>>

<<I, and two others. The circle was devastated. Only we three were spared>>

<<How convenient...>>

<<What a pity…>>

I say it ironically, sheathing again the sword and crossing my arms afterwards, annoyed almost to the limit by all of this.

<<You will forgive me if I do not naively devour every scrap of information you toss me. You have a reputation for deceit>>

<<And who as slandered me so? Your malefactor Kain? The one who betrayed and destroyed you? Our common enemy?>>

Raziel raises his gaze to the sky, exasperated.

<<Consider the source, before you judge me too harshly. We will forget about rekindling our old friendship, then. But consider an alliance based on our common ground. We both want Kain dead, I can help you do it>>

Raziel too crosses his arms.

<<You do not want to meddle this, old man. I know all about your solid little schemes, but you are simply out of your depth on this one>>

<<You underestimate me, Raziel…let me show you>>

He walks to the basin, lighting the four candles on its edges with a movement of the staff. On the surface of the water appears a picture. Our objective is standing in front of the Pillars. He looks at them, candid, not yet corrupted.

<<Even now, Kain is lying in wait for you, unaware that I have snatched you out of the time-stream and brought you here, to me>>

The old man leans on the stone with a grim gaze, while he watches at the vampire on the other side.

<<See how he lingers at the very Pillars he is destined to destroy…foolishly confident that he has eluded your grasp>>

Raziel and I go near the stone basin. The white columns attract our eyes. They are so…pure.

<<The Pillars are still standing in this time?>>

Raziel is fascinated. And I am too. How much in the past have we traveled?

<<Yes, Raziel. They are the embodiment of the divine force which preserves the life of our world. We who serve the Pillars maintain their delicate balance, and Kain is destined to be the fulcrum upon which that balance turns. I believe you have already endured the wasteland wrought by his terrible, selfish decision>>

Raziel seems confused, shocked.

<<Kain’s very existence is a cancer upon this world. As long as he lives, all of Nosgoth is in peril!>>


	24. The Sarafan Stronghold

I look at Raziel a little worried. I cannot decipher his actual expression.

<<You may, never again be human, Raziel…but you can re-embrace the essence of your humanity, and the nobility of your Sarafan heritage>>

I do not like the idea. It seems like Moebius is trying to convince him to accomplish something wrong.

<<Go to him, Raziel, and _end_ this>>

He talks just with him, like I do not exist. He tries to convince him to take his side, like humans were the only race to stay in all Nosgoth. But there is something out of place. I feel like there is something missing.

<<But first you will need to find your way out of the Stronghold. And in this, I am afraid, I cannot help you>>

<<What the…>>

Why can he not? Will he be seen like a traitor? Better that way, an old babble man in less.

<<My soldiers will not understand your appearance here, they will try to kill you. Even if she does not look like a vampire, she is still with a ferocious beast and a demon>>

Both Icarus and Raziel growl at the definitions the old man just gave them.

<<You need not to fear them, of course, they are no match for you. Try to keep the casualties to a minimum, but do what you have to do. All great movements require…a few martyrs…>>

Moebius vanishes, no tracks. Raziel and I look at each other. In his eyes a challenging glimmer.

<<What do you think of a good carnage?>>

I smile at him, delighted.

<<Actually…I am a little hungry>>

We exit the big wooden door, stained glass windows showing winged knights piercing demons wrapped in flames let the light of the sun illuminate the hallways. To our right, at the end of the corridor, the first patrolling guard. Their back to us. Raziel takes a few steps forward, than turns around to look at me and bows theatrically.

<<After you, my dear>>

<<What a gentleman>>

With a fast and silent bolt I get near the guard, sealing their mouth and nose and I move their head to the side, uncovering the neck. The vein pumps in agitation and I do not wait a second more. I bite the skin, the muscles try to make resistance, but once reached the blood I drain them in mere moments. I lay the corpse to the ground making less sound as possible, then I straighten up and sigh.

<<How much I needed that…>>

Raziel comes beside me after devouring the soul of the mercenary and cleans a rivulet of blood from my cheek.

<<You are in great shape as always>>

A little flashback. The day of my awekening as a vampire, my first meal. I smile at him, then I turn to Icarus that, after removing the helmet with a paw, is eating the man’s head. Raziel stares at him, then goes back looking at me.

<<I start to feel a certain liking for that beast>>

A laugh slips from my lips and it resounds in the hallway.

<<Who is there?!>>

<<Ups, maybe I called for trouble>>

Raziel retrieves the broadsword from the soldier and grips it ready to fight.

<<In a few seconds it will be no more>>

I unsheathe again my sword and we start again down the corridor. Another guard, with something resembling a scythe, goes in attacking stance immediately after closing the door behind them with a gate. Taken this out of the way too, we open again the passage and go on. Mercenary after mercenary, we leave a streak of corpses behind us. I have never felt this full in my entire unlife. We then find ourselves in an indoor garden with four flowerbeds. I see Raziel being attracted by a gate that seems to lead to a cathedral aisle.

<<Damned gates…>>

<<I will try and find a lever as soon as possible, do not worry>>

He vanishes. And reappears in the center of the aisle a couple of moments later, but some mercenaries notice him and charge him.

<<Raziel!>>

While he fights back, I search on the internal walls for a lever, near the gate. I see it, but I cannot reach it. I concentrate the telekinesis and, with a little struggle, I activate it. We enter and Icarus runs to Raziel, trampling and knocking the guards down. Raziel stares at him, then looks at me.

<<I confirm my previous statement>>

The wolf walks near him and licks his face, receiving a disgusted grimace. I laugh seeing the scene, then I near them and fix the fur on the canid’s head.

<<Good job, buddy>>

A strange energy coming from another gate attracts my attention. The spectral blade on Raziel’s arm re-acrivates, Moebius must be far. We near the chapels after opening the decorated gates, a light sense of dizziness pervades me while we walk to the central niche. On the stained glass there is a picture of a man in red armor fighting against a white skinned vampire, both of them wielding the Reaver. I notice that Raziel too is affected by the dizziness, he walks slowly with his arms slightly spread to maintain his balance.

<<This must be the tomb of the beloved king William the Just…beatified here as a martyr and catalyst of Moebius’s crusade>>

<<Is that...Kain?>>

<<Yes…Moebius coerced him to travel back in history and assassinate William, thus igniting a genocidal hatred of vampires among the citizens of Nosgoth>>

When we get near the shrine, we notice a very familiar blade, laying as a holy relic, broken in two.

<<The Reaver? But how…>>

Right, Kain broke it on Raziel in our time…but how could it be in one piece if here is broken? The symbiotic blade lights up surprising both me and Raziel, who brushes the sword with his hand, then he clamps down the hilt, embracing that too of energy and the two halves reunite. Raziel falls to his knees, like the sword is sucking away his life essense.

<<Raziel?!>>

The blade detach from the tomb, staying firm in my mate’s grip. Behind us appears Moebius, puzzled by the fact. Icarus, as always, threatens him ready to strike.

<<What have you done to me, Moebius?!>>

Raziel turns around, aiming at the old man’s neck with the Reaver.

<<Is this your trap?!>>

<<How mine?!>>

The old snake changes expression, from incredulous to angered.

<<Do not forget it was Kain who led you here, not I! While you curse me, the only soul in Nosgoth ready to guide and assist you!>>

Kain wanted us to follow him, not to end here with this rat. Something tells me that he fakes his upset behavior, I cannot trust this viper.

<<Kain laughs at our folly and revels in your dismay!

<<These blades now coiled in a sinister embrace have inspired terror in the hearts of creatures far more durable than you, old man>>

With his free hand, Raziel flicks him on the head, destabilizing him. I see him interdicted, like if he is looking for a solution to this situation, and quickly.

<<Bound together as they are, I can only imagine what they could do to your soul’s fragile shell>>

Raziel grips the hilt of the sword with both hands, charging a blow. The old man turns around with his hands forward in defence, then he unites them as to pray.

<<Raziel, I beg you to stay your hand! This was none of my doing! I have sought only to aid you in your righteous quest!>>

He is not very convincing, it is like he is trying to flee from this situation.

<<Why, you are trembling, Moebius>>

Raziel is pleased of that, an almost imperceptive smirk can be heard in his voice. I cross my arms and lean on the wolf enjoying the show.

<<Has your confidence abandoned you? You seem to have made a fatal error by leaving your precious staff behind>>

He looks once again at the Reaver, thinking if chopping the snake’s head or not.

<<Is that where all your courage comes from?>>

I keep a laugh for myself. Watching the old man shivering in front of us makes me feel a pleasurable satisfaction.

<<Listen to me, Raziel, you do not know what you are doing! I have taken an enormous risk by appearing here before you, so defenseless, yet eager to prove my good intentions>>

He bows his head in reverence. Sleazy.

<<If there is anything left of the Sarafan in you, you will not do this…>>

He touches Raziel’s hand that would have given him the momentum for the blow. Disgusting.

<<While you threaten me, your true enemy eludes you!>>

Annoyed by everything, Raziel slaps away his hands and grabs him by a wrist.

<<Do not concern yourself with Kain, old man. He will join you in hell soon enough>>

He pulls him, making him fall to his knees.

<<As you said, Death comes for us all>>

<<Yes…the Wheel of fate demands it>>

Raziel is shocked by that statement, so much that he lowers again the blade, lettim him go.

<<What did you say?>>

<<The Wheel of fate, the inexorable cycle of death and rebirth to witch all men are compelled. We serve the same _God_ , Raziel…to strike me down would be striking God’s own attendant, and I do not believe even you would take that risk>>

He is more confident now, and talks with a little smile while he raises to his feet. That babbling old man is just trying to save his own life.

<<I tire of your games, Moebius. Now that I know you fear me, I do not need to concerne myself with you. Kain is waiting for me>>

Raziel throws the Reaver to the ground, a few steps from me, and pushes Moebius while he walks out of the chapel.

<<Go then, Raziel. Seek Kain out and destroy him, in the name of the one God we both serve! You, who were once a Sarafan priest, murdered, profaned, destroyed and reborn again from _His_ mercy…you are now most powerful equipped to be _His_ agent, _His_ instrument of restoration and retribution>>

I am distracted by the blade to my feet to see the scene.

<<My _own_ vengeance is motivation enough!>>

I kneel to collect the sword and when I grip it I sense an immense streght. But a jolt make me drop it again, leaving a few liliac sparkles between my fingers.

<<Niah? Let’s go>>

<<Yes…>>

Passing by the old man, massaging my hand, I do not notice that knowing gaze and hidden smile under the shadow of his hood. Icarus glowls lowly to the man making him back away. We reach Raziel who moves to the left, towards another chapel, while Moebius closes the gates to the central one. I hear him mumble something before sensing him no more. I see Raziel wielding the spectral blade. It is more intense. I can see he is not pleased, maybe a bit annoyed

<<I cannot unleash it too much…or it will turn its hunger on me…>>

He makes it dissolve and we enter the chapel. On the stained glass, to the left, a bat winged monster burns a village and makes humans run away, in the central one a Sarafan priest rips the heart from the still living creature and, in the third, again that Sarafan, victorious.

<<So this was the legendary Janos Audron, the most ancient and “diabolical” vampire to have ever existed>>

<<And that must be the “Heart of Darkness”…why do I feel like these pictures are…fake…>>


	25. The Pillars and The Coin

We exit from a nearby door. Surpassed other guards we enter in a big round room. On the walls, the paintings of Raziel’s brothers stand out for their colors on the stone. They are all kneeling, each one with a different armor and weapon. Behind Dumah there is a purple winged monster, while for Raziel there is a statue. With his helmet under his arm and the tip of the sword on the ground by his side, he stands with puffed chest full of pride, his hair short and nicely combed is similar to the messy one he has now, shorter to the cut he had as a vampire. I see my mate in discouragement, it looks like he misses his “nobility”, even if he remembers nothing of his Sarafan past. He tightens his fists, his rage could be sensed from feet apart. We go upstairs, taking a door exactly above the statue that leads us in the umpteenth hallway full of the same stained glass windows there are in the ground floor and we are met with an big dark wooden door. Once on the other side we find ourselves on a balcony, to the south there are waterfalls that fill the lake below, on the background the trees sway to the wind and some birds enjoy the breeze in flight. To the left, another wing of the Stronghold, to the right other waterfalls and, near the surface, a little door with a symbol similar to a sun.

<<What now?>>

<<This place is enormous…it will take us hours to find the main exit>>

I look under the balcony. The lake seems deep enough.

<<I think there is only one way to get out of here then>>

The wolf precedes me. He walks back getting a running start and pushes us over the balcony’s edge. The lake breaks at the impact taking my breath. When I take back my senses, I swim to the surface, spitting some water afterwards.

<<Icarus!!>>

The canid tilts his head to the side.

<<Come on Niah…we would have had to jump anyways>>

I stare at Raziel for a few moments.

<<Yes, but I was not ready! And it seems that you two are getting along now, uh?>>

The two of them look at each other, the blue humanoid shrugs. I puff raising my eyes to the sky and smiling.

<<Let’s go, we have to proceed>>

I swim in front of them reaching the shore to the left. A big toothed wheel is framed in the stone wall of the hill. We cannot see other ways to continue. Activating the gears, a sound coming from under the balcony makes us guess that something opened. I see Raziel look to the other side of the lake. Then he dives again, Icarus and I follow him and, swimming underwater, we trespass the submerged gate. We emerge once again, to the right an invalicabile stone wall, to the left the shore. We swim and go out of the water, shaking it away. I sit on the ground and take off the boots, emptying them again in the lake.

<<Luckily I am a vampire just for a half…>>

Raziel kneels near me moving a lock of wet hair and putting it in its place. Icarus is near us that combs his soaking fur with his tongue after leaving a puddle a few steps to the side. I wear again my boots and let Raziel help me stand up. A sparkle of light attracts our attention. Above the gigantic wooden gate, half drowned, there is a pinkish crystal.

<<I think that, if we will ever need to go back in, we will have to open those doors. The balcony is too high, we cannot reach it>>

<<I guess you are right, Raziel…who knows how it opens…>>

<<We will think of that when necessary>>

To proceed, we have to go high, a not too high rocky wall does as a suppor. Some mercenaries await over a little jump.

<<…shall we run?>>

<<Yes, they are just a waste of time>>

We sprint through the soldiers who try to stop us, some armored dogs try to follow but the wolf, between bites and paws, frees us from their presence. Long the way, between the walls of rock, there are impaled vampire corpses and heads.

<<Damn…>>

Raziel does not comment, I do not comprehend what passes in his head since he descovered his origins. We cross a wood bridge, a few crows that are perched there vanish in a green smoke when we walk past them. Strange. We proceed again to another piece of path, then some wooden stairs and a suspended bridge. Other impaled vampires. They are not like the one after Kain’s empire. They are still a lot…human. A knot tightens my throat. They are like me.

<<This is not a crusade…this is a persecution…>>

We continue on our way without letting the mercenaries stop us. We open a passage bloched by a big gray gate, and in front of us, the Pillars. Pristine Whole. Uncorrupted. Marvelous. Raziel too is in awe for such a sight, but his gaze changes complitely as soon as he notices a familiar silhouette in the center of the white and black marble plate. His back to us. I see Raziel walk towards the monument activating the ghost blade. He nears in stealth, Icarus and I follow him a little far behind.

<<I know you are there, Raziel>>

Goodbye surprise attack.

<<Moebius led me to you, Kain, though I might have guessed you would meet me here>>

Kain crosses his arms and sighs.

<<And if Moebius told you I was hidden on the underside of hell, would you throw yourself into oblivion to pursue me?>>

He lays a hand on his waist and lets all his weight on that leg.

<<Moebius trawls for the ignorant and unwary, hauling his gasping prey from the streams of their destinies. Stay out of his net, Raziel>>

I take a few steps forward, still not on the plate.

<<Spare me your elaborate metaphors, Kain. I have pursued you here for one purpose. You will pay for your betrayal, and Balance will thus be restored to Nosgoth>>

<<And whose will is satisfied them, the will of Raziel or Moebius?>>

<<Would I be better manipulated by you, Kain? Now turn and face me. The chase is over!>>

Raziel puts his guard on, but Kain, without looking at him, advances to the central Pillar.

<<This is not a chase, Raziel>>

The blue wraith follows him, the wolf and I remain in the outern circle.

<<We are merely passengers on the wheel of destiny, describing a perfect circle to this point>>

Raziel stops in the center.

<<We have been brought here for a reason. I have seen the beginning and the end of our story, however>>

He lays a hand on the Pillar of Balance.

<<And the tale is crude and ill-conceived…we must rewrite the ending of it…you and I>>

Raziel nears him frustrated.

<<Face me, Kain! Even you should not die a coward’s death!>>

He finally turns.

<<Is it not customary to grant the condemned a final request? >>

<<I recall no such courtesy from you>>

<<And I bet you did the same with the rest of our clan…>>

I talk in a whisper, but with the look in his eyes I guess he must have heard me.

<<Indulge me, Raziel…all I ask is that you listen…>>

Raising his arms, he turns again towards the Pillars.

<<This is the sublime moment of our undoing, Raziel. The ineffable fulcrum upon which swings the entirety of our history…>>

A whisper slowly grows in intensity.

<<This is where all of Nosgoth is betrayed. In this instant, Ariel, the Balance Guardian, is murdered by dark forces bent on overthrowing the Pillars>>

The whisper grows untill it becomes an agonizing scream.

<<Her spirit is just now tearing free, lost in the ether, trying to find its way here>>

I do not sense irony in his words, but I struggle to follow.

<<You have already seen how she comes to haunt these Pillars>>

<<Bound here by your refusal to die…you are the reason this land becomes diseased. As long as you remain alive you condemn Nosgoth to an eternity of decay>>

Kain moves his hand in front of him, trying to calm down his first son.

<<Be still, Raziel. _See_ this…>>

The sound of an earthquake arrives to our ears, a tremor is nearing.

<<As Ariel dies, I am being born to take her place as Balance Guardian. Such is my destiny>>

Kain leans on his Pillar, keeping a hand to his head. A veil of dark light wrap around us, overwhelming the Pillars. Corrupting them. Raziel takes a step back, incredulous.

<<…my god…>>

I hug Icarus, I sense him tremble slightly. When he catches himself, Kain straightens.

<<At the moment of my fist cry, Ariel’s beloved, the guardian Nupraptor, find her corpse. Wracked with grief and tormented by suspicion of treachery, Nupraptor plunges into a madness which overflows and infects all of the Guardians, who are symbiotically bound. Including _me_ >>

He is deadly serious about this, almost annoied.

<<The repercussions of Ariel’s assassination were expertly calculated…the entire Circle descends into madness, and I am tainted at the moment of my birth, instantly rendered incapable of fulfilling the role destiny has prepared for me>>

<<Shall I show you the same mercy you showed the rest of the Circle, then? You blithely murdered them to restore their Pillars, yet your hand faltered when it came to the final sacrifice. What makes you exempt, Kain? You were merely the last man standing. Why condemn me for simply carrying out what you had not the courage to do yourself?>>

Kain now seems more angered.

<<Let’s drop the moral posturing, shall we? We both know there is no altruism in this pursuit. Your reckless indignation led you here. I counted on it>>

He crosses his arms without breaking eye contact.

<<There is no shame in it, Raziel, revenge is motivation enough. At least it is honest>>

He opens again his arms to close them long his sides.

<<Hate me, but do it honestly>>

Then he relaxes a little, almost nostalgic. Raziel makes the blade dissolve.

<<Thirty years hence, I am presented with a dilemma, let’s call it a two-sided coin. If the coin falls one way, I sacrifice myself and thus restore the Pillars. But as the last surviving vampire in Nosgoth, this would mean the annihilation of our species. Moebius made sure of that>>

William the Just…the crusades…Kain has got a point…neather me or Raziel would be here if it was not for his choice, but if he sacrificed himself, Raziel would have not suffered so much…and I would not be alive.

<<If the coin lands on the reverse…I refuse the sacrifice and thus doom the Pillars to an eteriny of collapse. Either way, the game is rigged>>

<<We agree then that the a pillars are crucial and must be restored?>>

<<Yes, Raziel. That is why we have come full-circle to this place>>

<<So after this you make my case for me. To end this stalemate, you must die so that new Guardians can be born!>>

I do not understand…is Raziel still blinded by the rage? Is he faking not to listen?

<<The Pillars do not belong to _them_ , Raziel…they belong to _us_ >>

<<Your arrogance is boundless, Kain>>

Kain chuckles.

<<There is a _third_ option, a monumental secret, hidden in your very presence here…but it is a secret…you have to discover for yourself>>

He throws a glance to me too, Icarus growls against him.

<<Unearth your destiny, Raziel. It is all laid out for you here>>

<<You said it yourself, Kain. There are only two sides to your coin!>>

<<Apparently so. But suppose you throw a coin enough times…suppose one day, it lands on its _edge_ …>>

And with that last statement, he vanishes.


	26. The Dark Forge

I walk near Raziel slowly, he seems pondering his creator’s words, confused, torn.

<<A secret…hmm…>>

He looks around. The only visible way is the gate from which we arrived, in front of us a rocky wall, in front of it I notice two rocky columns and, above them, a path.

<<Raziel, up there>>

Helping each other, we climb the wall and continue long the way. We meet others of those crows, that disappear again when we walk past them. We find an enormous entrance blocked by big rock plates, decorated with a painting. On the surface there is represented an humanoid with bifid hands, blue skin, white tunic and black feathered wings. The door is ruined by the bad weather, it looks closed since centuries. In the center, a lock for the Reaver. Raziel unlocks it and a dark hallway welcomes us, in the distance some one-luminous-eyed and almost invisible body creatures sense our presence and attack us when we pass through.We trespass some columns, going down in the cave. On the floor, after a short time in our way, we find dark marble and steps that go even deeper. We enter in a round chamber, a marble plate in the center surrounded by crystalline water hosts the extension of the now gray and cracked Pillars. On the walls there are paintings of the winged race with the Soul Reaver, fighting with other winged creatures, but those are less delicate, less elegant. I remember I saw them in some books in Vorador’s mansion, but I am too taken by the paintings to think about it. The Pillars, when they have been erected by those black feathered winged humanoids who defeated their adversaries. Then these beings, in agony, bloody and bleeding, bloodthirsty. The firsts vampires. The ancient lineage of our race.

<<Was _this_ what Kain had urged me to discover?>>

A whisper, Raziel starts looking around us, then walks near the edge of the big pedestal and looks down, in the water. He sighs irritated and crosses his arms.

<<Ah, my ancient “benefactor”…and I dared to hope we had parted ways forever>>

He raises his eyes to the sky.

<<Your silence was refreshing, while it lasted. No doubt you have a conveniently inexpressible reason for your presence here?>>

I look at him confused, he is giving me his back. But other whispers make me understand that he is not talkinng with himself. I try to concentrate but I cannot pick up the words.

<<But perhaps not so omnipotent as you would have me believe. Your hold on me appears to be tenuous. I no longer seem to need you, yet I am guessing you still need _me_ >>

The whispers are dense and confused. He tighten his fists putting them long his sides.

<<Indebted? You would have me show gratitude for a “gift” I did not ask to be bestowed?>>

On the smooth surface of the pavement there are round symbols. Raziel walks back and forth on them annoied.

<<Do you forget that you _forced_ me to inhabit this vile carcass?!>>

It seems like that this feeble voice comes from below, I can sense its presence, its strength.

<<I serve no one. Not you, not Kain and not your lackey, Moebius!>>

He taps on the ground with a foot, exasperated.

<<And if I tell Moebius that he is worshipping a giant squid, do you think his faith will falter?>>

Giant squid? A little flashback of enormous tentacles and eyes that stare at Raziel’s silhouette provoke me a shiver.

<<I harbor no illusions about his integrity, nor anyone else’s. In fact, I am beset by manipulation on all sides. I merely seek the truth>>

A slight whistle in my ear makes me think that someone is menacing me.

<<Kain indeed deserves to die, for condemning me to this repugnant for. But if and when I kill him, it will be for me, alone, to decide>>

He stares at the water a few seconds more, then he takes a deep breath, despite he does not need it.

<<What is going on, Raziel…? Who…who is there?>>

He looks at me, it looks like he remembers that I am here to only now.

<<The entity who “saved” me in the Abyss, the umpteenth puppeteer which tries to maneuver me…did you hear what he said too?>>

<<Just whispers…I could not decipher…>>

<<Hm…>>

He sits on the dark edge, looking for something. Then he enters in the water.

<<Raziel?>>

<<I will be right back>>

He dives disappearing from my sight. I sit on his spot, waiting. I feel like he is drifting away, like he is putting me aside. I understand the rage, the want of revenge, but I feel excluded, ignored. Like I was superfluous, useless. Icarus lays beside me, putting his snout on my lap. I pet him a few moments, then Raziel re-emerges taking me by susprise.

<<I found a passage>>

I nod, I make miself slip in the water and the wolf follows. A strange shiver makes its way in my muscles when we dive. The Pillars extend under the surface too. Around the columns it is like I cas see something transparently, but i do not investigate, I must stay alert and follow my mate. I want to help him in this venture, for how much crazy it can be. Even if something tells me that it will lead me to my end, something else pushes me to do it, to continue this way. We swim, re-emerge and avoid other strange spirits, reaching another lake and we dive again. There is a strange structure, like a statue, and behind that another underwater passage. We follow it, slowly going up, and once out of the water we find ourselves in a swamp, a tall dense forest covers the sun and the sky, some ruins are scattered all over the zone and in front of us there is a sealed door with the Time-streaming room symbol, like the one in the Sarafan Stronghold. The mud on the ground slows our steps, we jump rock by rock until we arrive to a wall with a door, which does not imply to open. With a kick, Raziel tears it down, opening the way. The caw of some crows attracts our attention and makes us turn. On the balcony of the ruin appears a tall silhouette, dark green skinned and with a Bordeaux clothing.

<<That is…>>

I cannot finish the sentence that the silhouette vanishes in a green cloud of smoke.

<<…Vorador?>>

Skeptical, we continue in our way, bypassing the mercenaries and the ruins. We walk near an enormous fallen tree trunk, leaning on the mountain wall, that covers what seems to be a passage to the north. Even if we could climb the bark, we pass it, for now ignoring it. A tall wall blocks us. Icarus breaks down the rotten wood and rusty iron door and we reach the balcony in ruins. Another big door with a Reaver decorated lock and a big roundish symbol similar to a rising moon with the dark side on the bottom. And Vorador is nowhere to be seen. I leave to Raziel the task to open it, I am not sure if I can do it and he does not know about my strange ability. The hallway we walk is very silent, a mummy-like thing blocks the passage, closed by a strange lock. And by the look, the key is the undead’s shield.

<<What kind of creature was that? >>

<<I have no idea…ew>>

The umpteenth gate stops us. I sigh frustrated while Raziel enters in the other realm. I cannot find the lever, so I wait there for him to come back. I observe the surroundings, other undead guards patrol the room, some paintings adorn the upper part of the lateral walls, but I cannot see them. Raziel comes back, gets rid of the keepers and finds the mechanism to open the gate. While Icarus stays down to patrol, Raziel and I climb the walls to the mural. Other winged vampires in war and the Reaver, once more painted like a holy icon. We move and, jumping on a broken bridge, we reach an opening to another room, closed for the wolf that follows us from the ground level.

<<You will have to wait there, buddy…what do we have to do, Raziel?>>

<<I have no idea…>>

A big crystal with pink and light blue glints is hung on the ceiling over a round plate, at the end of the room a large sphere similar to the moon divides us from another chamber. We go down and see a mirror on a rotable stand. Sending the light coming from above to one or another direction, it opens hidden doors, but each way is bloched by a gate. And there are no levers.

<<You will have to go alone…>>

Raziel says nothing. With the moon in front of us, he goes to the right and disappears. Over the rock there is an empty roundish base.

<<Maybe here goes a mirrior…>>

I wait there. After a while I hear Icarus howl and walk away.

<<Icarus?>>

I cannot reach the opening above, but the door can be opened from the inside. I unsheathe the sword and concentrate, the Reaver manifests and I sense the blade being attracted by the keyhole. I let my arms be guided by the energy and the door opens. I exit the room and look for any passage.

<<Icarus where are you?>>

I hear his scamper and see him coming back from behind a wall with Raziel on his croup. And in his hands he keeps a mirror. I smile to the scene and greet them. Raziel, once on the ground, looks at me confused.

<<What is it?>>

<<How did you come out? The door was locked>>

His eyes fall on my sword, the liliac energy is dissolving and the blade is changing back to normal.

<<Well…>>

<<…a Soul Reaver?>>

I nod.

<<I have no idea how I gained this…the night of my turning I dreamt of it…and the night Kain found me in the woods too…when he wounded me…>>

I massage my neck, a cold shiver pervades me at the memory of the vampiric blade on my throat.

<<Strange…you never cease to suprise me>>

In his gaze there is a little hint of a smile, then we enter the room again with the wolf and the door closes once again.

<<Where do you thing it goes?>>

I take the mirror from his hands and place it on the base. It fits perfectly.

<<Excellent…now I think we need some light>>

We go back to the entrance to rotate the bigger mirror to the left and Raziel vanishes again. We wait there, time passes by. After some time a strange light wraps the rocky moon, like in an eclipse.

<<Raziel!>>

My mate falls on his feet from above the base with the little mirror and runs to us. Some light beams detach from the moon and float towards the crystal on the ceiling, activating it. The glass shines in a dark light, shooting a ray of energy in the plate below. A dark black-purplish flame begins to burn on that surface. We slowly get near the shrine, Raziel’s blade appears and he struggles to control it.

<<Raziel?!>>

<<Stay back!>>

The phantom blade dives into the flame, devouring the dark energy it emanates. Raziel is lifted in mid air and surrounded by lightning and smoke while the Reaver absorbs the new power, then he is left falling to the ground. He stands back up and observes his arm, now wrapped in dark energy, and slashes the air.

<<A forge…>>

I feel my hand tingle slightly, some little dark sparkles float between my fingers.

<<Hm…maybe they are synchronized…>>

<<This is very strange…maybe Vorador can give us an explanation…>>

I let Raziel open the door and we exit. A little basin in a smaller room to our right is now lit and emanates a purple light. During our journey we saw some of them, with other patterns.

<<Elemental fonts…>>

<<So you will be able to re-imbude the blade without coming back to the forge…>>

He nods. We exit from the previously open door, now closed with a lock decorated with concentric circles, or a crescent moon, like the one on the main entrance.

<<At the lake there is a similar door…we have to go back there>>

Once we exit the main door of the forge, it seals permanently.


	27. The Light Forge

<<You are a ragged excuse for a saviour>>

The wood green skinned vampire is leaning on a column of the exit with crossed arms.

<<Vorador...>>

<<I see my reputation precedes me>>

He bows with no little modesty and irony.

<<It does>>

<<All good, I hope>>

He crosses his arms again and stands from the pillar.

<<I have been watching you since you emerged from that accursed stronghold…>>

He slowly walks towards us.

<<Strange that your arrival coincides with the corruption of the Pillars>>

He walks around us with his hands behind his back, Icarus is ready to defend, growling lowly and silently. Vorador’s yellow eyes lay on me, checking me.

<<But I am wandering…are you the _catalyst_ of these events, or the _answer_ to them?>>

<<I do not know what you mean>>

<<I will speak plainly, then. I distrust your origins, stranger. Seeing you crowl from the putrid depths of Moebius’s Keep makes me question your purpose here. And what should I make of your appearance?>>

He checks my mate once more.

<<Not human, clearly…and more _demon_ than vampire. And the pillars…it is no mere coincidence that your arrival in that clearing heralded the Pillars’ decay>>

He stops in front of us again with crossed arms.

<<And so I ask you plainly: are you the instrument of the Pillars’ _destruction,_ or their _salvation_?>>

Raziel thinks about it a couple of seconds.

<<Neither>>

Vorador looks at him a little surprised and confused by that answer.

<<Very well, let us look at the other side of the coin…I have followed your journey, and watched as you blithely unlocked secrets that have been sealed and forbidden for thousands of years. The path you have been treading is open to only one being…you do not know _what_ you are, do you?>>

Raziel shrugs.

<<I have been many things…if you find me ignorant, enlighten me>>

Vorador laughs giving his back to us.

<<What is the point? This world is beyond redemption. Let the human cattle have it>>

<<I would expected better than meek capitulation from you>>

Our interlocutor turns around irked.

<<Centuries of persecution have taught me well>>

He walks to the balcony with his hands interviewed behind his back.

<<Five hundred years ago, our race was nearly exterminated by the fanatical crusades of the Sarafan. And now the same sick drama unfolds again>>

I pet Icarus to calm him down. Vorador is disarmed, but he is not to underestimate. He emanates a powerful aura.

<<In merely a decade, Moebius’s cutthroat citizen army has nearly accomplished what the Sarafan could not. Vampires meddling in the affairs of men…look where it has brought us>>

Vorador lowers his shoulders, deluded, lost.

<<What am I to make these secrets I have uncovered, then? The depictions of the winged race, the Pillars, the Reaver?>>

The green skinned vampire straightens.

<<Fairy tales, boy. The delusion of an ancient culture, clinging to hope long after the world has discarded them. Their bloodline trickled away, until only one of the Ancient remained, sustained solely by obligation and his unfaltering faith in the old prophesies>>

He turned again, and now is coming towards us.

<<But you see, even if you are who you appear to be, it no longer matters…you are simply _too late_ >>

He stops at mere inches from Raziel, looking him straight in his white eyes.

<<Janos Audron, the Reaver Guardian, the last of the Ancients, and my _maker_ , was murdered by the Sarafan nearly five centuries ago>>

I sense nostalgy in his voice, remorse, hatred.

<<He alone would have the answers you seek, but his secrets died with him. I do not know how you have come even this far without his guidance, or without the _Reaver_ , stolen these five hundred years ago by the Sarafan>>

A few second of silence, as to be respectful to his creator and to the blade.

<<I am afraid, my friend, that you, and all of us, are out of luck>>

And after a last glance to all the three of us, he dissolves in his characteristic green smoke.

<<Hm...Janos Audron…we have to go back to the Time-streaming chamber…>>

<<But we cannot enter the Stronghold from the main door>>

<<Certainly not, but maybe that crystal over the lake’s entrance can help us…let’s go back there, then we will think what to do>>

<<Sure...>>

We jump down the balcony and run towards the entrance of the swamp, diving in the passage. I feel like we will have to cross this way a lot of times. We rise, Raziel climbs the wall, Icarus and I jump on some rocky ledges and go up, we avoid the spirits and dive again. While we swim to the surface of the round room with the Pillars I feel something brush me, but when I look behind I see nothing. Raziel looks towards me, visibly bothered. He reaches for my hand and helps me swim faster. He pushes me out of the water and I sit on the edge, backing away.

<<W-what was that?>>

<<Trust me…you do not want to know…>>

The whispers are back, Raziel looks at the bottom of the room.

<<Having unearthed more than you would like, I suspect. What am I to make of these ruins that litter the land, and these images here in this chamber?>>

I see him raising his eyes to the sky, already annoyed.

<<I have no doubt on that. The question is: am I in their presence _right now_?>>

He shake his head slightly.

<<Your threats are unmoving. Even now I am beyond your reach>>

He crosses his arms growling a little, than sighs frustrated.

<<Come on>>

After removing some water from my clothes, we head to the stairs that lead us out. We run avoiding the mercenaries, dive in the lake and swim to the other side, towards something that looks like a sanctuary. The relief above the golden doorframe is like a sunrise. Or a sunset. Raziel uses the dark blade to open the door and we enter. We get past the un-dead guardians and we reach a big hall, an half column in the center emanates a little purplish flame, on the sides two staircases lead to a couple of murals, one with the creation of the Pillars by the winged race, the other with their opponents, struggling.

<<Maybe the Pillars were used to weaken them>>

On the other side there is a closed gate with the symbol of the sanctuary and on the upper wall there are engravings of the Reaver. Raziel jumps on the half column and activates what seems to be a bridge made in shadows.

<<Wow...>>

<<Quick, it will not stay for long>>

<<Are you sure it will hold? You know…we are not like you…>>

<<Try it>>

I hop on the wolf’s back who jumps on the column and, after testing the bridge with a paw, runs on the other side beside Raziel. Other un-dead keepers walk towards us, my mate vanishes, reappearing on the other side of the room, over the gate. I help him to eliminate the guards and he finds the lever to make us pass through. After a large hallway not so long there is a big closed door. The lock is different from the one we encountered by now. Raziel lays his hand on it and it opens. His claws interlock perfectly with the shape of the “keyhole”. Another big room, a couple of enormous statues on the entrance wall welcome us, two staircases go down towards an even bigger statue to the center, curved, like prostrated. On the hands there are two big purplish crystals, on the head a hole and on the ground, under the statue, a plate similar to the one in the dark forge. On the sculpture’s sides there are two columns with a mirror each, on the opposite wall of the entrance there is another closed gate with other two smaller crystals, each one in the center of a half symbol of the sanctuary. The lateral walls are open at the top, decorated by the columns and they let enter a lot of sunlight. Trying to open one of the doors at the sides of the gate, Raziel notices that he has the dark Reaver no more.

<<It deactivates when I go in the spectral realm…>>

<<Oh>>

<<I will look for a lever and make you come on the other side of the gate>>

I nod, he disappears again and after a few menutes I see him running to us from the building on the other side of the plaza.

<<It took you some time>>

<<Unfortunately it is not me who decides where are the portals to come back to the material realm>>

He searches a lever, but nothing. I sigh.

<<Apparently I am destined to be useless>>

<<Do not say this…you heard Vorador’s words. These paths are open to one being only>>

<<Yes…I heard him…>>

He makes an arm pass through the bars and caresses my cheek.

<<I will try to finish this quickly>>

I nod again, he goes back in exploration while Icarus and I sit on a staircase, waiting. I snuggle up on the wolf who lays behind me and I eat a couple of fruits looking around. This place is so wanderful. After a while I hear the rock door to the left open and a light beam illuminates one of the two crystals on the wall, but Raziel is not there. After a little time, the other door opens too illuminating the second stone and, as a result, opening the central gate. Raziel enters the room with the dark blade active.

<<I hate…these undeads>>

I stand up laughing and go to him with the wolf. The forge is not burning yet.

<<Is there something missing?>>

<<Yes, over the gate and the square there is a hallway. At the end I think there is a piece to insert in the statue>>

We walk towards the building. An eye above a star shaped sculture activates when an undead guard materializes there and the bulb disintegrates it.

<<...so…what now?>>

Raziel looks at the blade on his arm, then the eye. He aims and shoots an energy ball which blinds the bulb, making it rotate backwards. He runs near the star and detaches the silver piece from the pedestal. He comes back right before the eye turns back in his original position. We run back to the statue and Raziel places the star on it. An earthquake shakes the room, we go up the stairs and the sculture straightens like in adoration, with raised arms. Then it lowers them destroying the mirrors and the columns. The light hits the crystals on the back of its hands and, between them, it creates a light beam of energy which changes in a big orange sphere. A few grains fall on the the plate below, igniting it. Raziel gets near and infuses the blade, being suspended in mid air again afterwards. When he lands, the blade is luminous like the sun. And on my fingers appear some white-yellowish sparkles.


	28. A new Paradox

Using the new light blade, we exit the forge and, shooting a kinetic ball to the pink crystals and we go back to the other side of the lake, opening the submerged doors too to enter the Sarafan Stronghold. We cross a couple of different hallways and we are back to the central aisle of the cathedral. A familiar presence leads us to get near the altars. Once opened the gate, we notice a mercenary corpse leaning on a column, his throat mangled. Raziel kneels to check the wound, then shakes his head and stands back up.

<<Show yourself, Kain!>>

<<Here, Raziel>>

He is standing in the central chapel, near William the Just’s tomb. Near the Soul Reaver.

<<Everything is decided _here_ >>

We enter cautiously, but the sense of disturbance we felt the first time here is returning. Raziel goes on while Icarus and I reamin at the gates.

<< You cannot comprehend the magnitude, the rapture and the tragedy, of this moment...and yet you must if Nosgoth is to be dragged from the wreckage of its damnation>>

<< I understand only this, Kain…that you and Moebius have impelled me to this moment simply means I can trust _neither_ of you. I don’t know who’s pulling the strings, but it no longer matters…because I’m cutting them. I set my own course from here>>

Raziel turns around and comes back on his steps.

<<If it were only that simple…>>

My mate stops, listening to his ex master, giving him his back.

<<Your fatalism is tiresome, Kain>>

<<And profoundly ingrained, Raziel…you must understand, our presence here does not _alter_ history. You and I meet here because we are _compelled_ to. We have _always_ met here>>

He points the sarcofagus.

<< History is irredeemable. Drop a stone into a rushing river, the current simply courses around it and flows on as if the obstruction were never there. You and I are _pebbles_ , Raziel, and have even less hope of disrupting the time-stream>>

Raziel turns to look at him annoied from all that chatter, but he still listens.

<< The continuum of history is simply too strong, too resilient… _except_ …then how do we explain William here?

Kain turns towards the grave.

<<The beloved boy-king turned tyrant>>

Before my eyes, I see the images I saw during the time travel. Two Reavers, one held by a white skinned vampire, the other by a human. Exactly the very same scene represeted in the stained glass. Kain takes the Reaver that rests on the stone and turns towards us.

<< In my youth, I witnessed William’s rise to power, and his transformation into the Nemesis who laid waste to Nosgoth>>

<<Keep your distance, Kain…>>

The vampire makes a couple of steps forward.

<< Years later, I stumble upon a chance to journey back in history, unaware that the entire affair has been carefully orchestrated by Moebius. In my wisdom, I seize this opportunity to murder the young king before he can ravage Nosgoth...and thereby provide the catalyst Moebius needs to ignite a genocidal war against our race>>

When he takes other steps, Raziel backs up by one, going in alert.

<<I warn you, no further!>>

Kain ignores his words and continues.

<< This one reckless act unravels the skein of history. The Nemesis never becomes the Nemesis, William dies a martyred saint. I, the vampire assassin, become the author of my own species’ extinction. And Moebius profits from it all>>

He turns slightly to look at the glass.

<<I destroyed a tyrant only to create one far worse…>>

Icarus is laying on the ground, but I can sense the tension in his muscles, ready to stand in case of danger. Kain looks back to us.

<< But how can it be so? How, if history is immutable? The answer is here in this room, Raziel>>

He gets nearer, keeping the hilt of the sword on his right hand and the blade laying on the left one.

<<Moebius propelled William and me together, but ensured first that we were both armed with the Soul Reaver>>

He stops to look at it.

<<The Reaver is the key. Two incarnations of the blade meet in time and space... a paradox is created, a temporal distortion powerful enough to derail history>>

When Kain steps closer offeeing the sword to Raziel, the phantom blade awakens and is attracted by her physical twin.

<<Is this your sorcery?>>

He tries to rebel, but the magnetic force guides him towards his interlocutor.

<<Not mine, Raziel…yours. You have nothing to fear from me, Raziel…you hold all the cards>>

Kain offers the hilt of the Reaver to Raziel and he takes it, engulfing it in the ghostly energy. The ex vampire observes it a few seconds.

<<…then perhaps I should test your sincerity>>

He aims at Kain’s throat and he raises his arms trying to avoid any contact.

<<If what you say is true, you should be terrified>>

Raziel pushes him nearer the tomb.

<<I could kill you here and now>>

<<And so you do, Raziel>>

What? Is this that easy? The blade starts to move on its own, Icarus perks up his ears, I stare incredulous, Kain is surprised and Raziel struggles to keep it in control.

<<What is happening?!>>

<<We are hurtling toward our destinies, Raziel. What you feel is the pull of history rushing to meet us. This is where history and destiny collide>>

The blade back up and tries to hit Kain, who falls to the ground ducking the blow. Raziel pulls it back slipping on his feet.

<< If you truly believe in free will, Raziel, now is the time to prove it. Kill me now, and we both become pawns of history, dragged down the path of an artificial destiny. I was ordained to assume the role of Balance Guardian in Nosgoth, while you were destined to be its savior. But the map of my fate was redrawn by Moebius, and so in turn was yours>>

Raziel is struggling more to hold back.

<<This is maddness!>>

<<Fight it, Raziel! This moment does not have to be an ending! It can become a _prelude!_ >>

<<I can’t!>>

<<You can, Raziel! Look inside and see that it is so! You have the power to reshape our inevitable futures!>>

Raziel raises the Reaver, Kain covers his head with an arm, I look elsewhere. Then, sound of breaking hardstone. No screams, so I look the two opponents. Kain stands slowly, keeping a hand on his head, Raziel keeps his arm, probably numb. The Reaver is stuck in William’s tomb, now sliced in two.

<<…poor William…>>

An earthquake shakes the stronghold an a overwordly sound propagates in the air.

<<What is this?!>>

<< History abhors a paradox, Raziel…>>

Kain straightens.

<< Even now, the time-stream strains to divert itself, finding its old course blocked by your refusal to destroy me. The future is reshuffling itself to accommodate your monumental decision. This is where we restore ourselves, Raziel, and reclaim our intended destinies. It may yet be possible for me to assume my role as Balance Guardian and return the Pillars to their rightful inheritors>>

<<To the vampires. And this is the destiny you have urged me to discover? I don’t know what game you and Moebius are playing, Kain, but I refuse to be your pawn. Unlike you, I still revere whatever shred of humanity I’ve managed to preserve. You will not use me as the instrument of your messianic delusions>>

Raziel turns his back to him again and starts walking towards the exit nodding us to move on, but I do not move.

<< Very well, Raziel. I will not ask you to trust me. Your truths are for you to discover alone>>

Raziel chuckles and loosk at him from the corner of his eyes.

<< Humble words for one who presumes to teach me a lesson at every turn>>

Kain crosses his arms.

<< Then continue your journey and learn your own lessons, Raziel. Remember, Moebius led you here, but you walk away unfettered. A champion of free will, and conqueror of false histories>>

Raziel walks in front of me slowly, Icarus looks at me and then follows him.

<<There is much more for you to unhearth…>>

I look at Kain.

<<...if you have the heart for the truth and the will to see it…>>

He sends me one last glance and an almost imperceptible nod before disappearing, leaving there the Reaver. Confused, I reach Raziel and Icarus that are waiting near the passage we used to get out the first time.

<<So much chatters…if he thinks he can convince me that easily, he is very much mistaken…>>

<<Raziel…I do not think he was lying…>>

<<What? Are you letting his words dupe you now?>>

<<No…while we were coming here, in the haze of the Chronoplast…I saw what Kain described earlier…like a vision of the past…similar to those on the mirrors of the hallway in the sanctuary>>

<<Vision? And what if it was Moebius to show you what he wanted?>>

He does not let me answer that he starts walking towards the chamber of our arrival, passing through the chapel with the painting of his brothers and his statue, when they were Sarafan priests. A few mercenaries try to stop us, but they have no chances, especially against a nervous Raziel as an opponent. Once opened the time streaming chamber hitting the crystal, Moebius appears, his expression is confused and scared. Raziel takes it better than expected.

<< Ah, yes…I like that look on your face, Moebius. You really do not know what to do now, do you, old man? Here you are, caught without your damned staff, and I suspect things are not progressing quite as you had hoped. You are not used to the fly turning to confront you in your web, are you?>>

I look at him confuse. I cannot understand what is it that flies in his mind.

<< Kain’s devious influence has poisoned your mind, Raziel>>

Not again…

<< Now you see betrayal everywhere, even in your closest allies>>

I feel strangely involved in that sentence.

<<We were neve rallies, Moebius. Conspirators, maybe. Briefly.>>

<<Why did you not kill Kain when you had the chance? He was at your mercy!>>

<<Precisely. I had a choice, and I chose mercy. And now I know your sordid little secret, the significance of that…displacement I felt when the two Reavers came together>>

Moebius is motionless.

<< Strangely enough, I was enlightened by the “devious” Kain, not by you. In fact, I have learned much more than you counted on. I understand now how you have tried to manipulate all of history for your own personal gain. But now all your little schemes are whirling in ruin around you, are they not? All because I chose to exert my will for once, rather than obey the demands of sorcerers and spirits and demons all singing the same tiresome refrain: “kill Kain!”>>

Spirits? Demons?

<< I am setting my own path from here, Moebius. I intend to discover the truth behind all of this>>

<<But you condemn us all with this impetuous act!>>

<<Hadrly impetuous. It took all the will I could muster>>

I nod crossing my arms.

<<Has my refusal to kill Kain reshuffled your carefully stacked deck of cards?>>

<< You really think that you are exercising your free will, Raziel? You are simply Kain’s servant>>

<<I do not _serve_ kain! I merely did not _kill_ him>>

<< Raziel, do not forget your purpose here. You are destined to be the savior of Nosgoth!>>

Raziel sighs frustrated.

<< Oh, I am sick of hearing that particular phrase. As for saving Nosgoth, so far I see precious little reason to bother. And I will choose my own “purpose” from here on out, Time-Streamer>>

He recalls the blade and aims at the old man’s neck.

<<Right now, I choose to manipulate you, for a change. Go, in there!>>

<<What are you doing?>>

Moebius tries to back up, I stop him unsheathing my sword and pointing it against him while Icarus growls showing his teeth.

<< Come now, Moebius, you are a cunning serpent... you will piece it together, I imagine>>

Raziel pulls him from a shoulder and pushes him into the chamber. At the center here is a sphere with two handles and, on the opposite wall, some cylinders that look like some kind of switch.

<< This era is of no further use to me. You will operate this device to provide me passage. I want to see the world in a simpler time, before the Sarafan began their crusade>>

We step in the center, near the machine, while Moebius switches the gears.

<<And what about Kain? You are leaving your quarry behind!>>

<< _You_ kill him, if it is so damned important!>>

Once finished, Moebius turns towards us.

<< You need only touch the two poles of the switch, and the device will transport you. But I urge you to reconsider… >>

<< You have lost your powers of persuasion, old man>>

Raziel lays his hands on the handles, I interwine an arm around his, and hug tight the wolf with the other.

<<Rot here and forget me!>>

The old man lowers his head and looks elsewhere. I feel the canid tense up and starts growling.

<<Icarus?>>

Raziel turns the machine to the right, the sphere lights up and we are wrapped in fog and thunders once more.


	29. The Deception

In the exchange of colors, I see blood, blades, long poles, rolling heads. And I hear an agonizing scream. When our feet touch the ground, the gears are no more there. Icarus is cautious, his ears rotate from a direction to another looking for any sound and he sniffs the air searching for any trace. We can hear the sound of rain on the roof and the smell of wet air wraps around us. We exit the chamber and we are met with a show we did not expect. The roof has crushed down, the rain wets the flor, mercenaries corpses everywhere.

<<That damned worm…he sent us forward in time>>

Walking to the wood door, an energy barrier blocks our path, and between that and us appear two bulky creatures with green skin, enormous mouth and thick and hard chitin blades as hands.

<<What the hell are those?!>>

When they shout, it is like I can hear Raziel’s name. I unsheathe my sword, Raziel calls the phantom blade an Icarus readies himself to attack. Struggling a bit, we manage to beat them and to exit. In the hallway, the windows are in most part broken, some of those who resemble mercenaries fight with some other creatures, tall and thin, dark, shafts that create purple electric discharges as hands and two similar big thorns on their back. We make our way through demons and humans finding ourselves in the intdoor garden, then in the chapel of Raziel’s brothers, then at the altars with a statue in front of the principal chapel. We stop to observe it, horrified. The work represents Moebius, martyrized after his death by Kain’s hands, who holds Vorador’s severed head as a trophy. On the pedestal the words “Requiescat In Pace”.

<<That viper must have sent us over a century in the future…we have to find a way to go back>>

<<And were do we go?>>

<<For now, let’s get out here. I absolutely do not want to pass another second in this stronghold>>

We exit from the gate and then from the door of the nave.

<<Raziel...>>

A voice of an old trembling man attracts our attention on a Moebius’s illusion. Raziel raises his eyes to the sky.

<<What pathetic charade is this now, Moebius?>>

The ghost of the old man covers his stomach, as he was wounded.

<<No charade, Raziel…only the entreaties of this martyred spirit>>

<< Your pleas mean nothing to me, after all your deceit.You have propelled me into Nosgoth’s future, Moebius, and left me stranded here>>

<< I am truly sorry, Raziel, but it was necessary. Consider it the last valiant act of a doomed man. >>

Icarus growls against him.

<< You have strayed from your purpose, and now behold the result. Gaze upon the wasteland you and Kain authored together!>>

<<I fail to see how _I am_ responsible>>

<<You spared Kain! And by doing so, you have released a multitude of horrors upon this world. I can accept that Kain has murdered me, Raziel. As the Time Guardian, I foresaw that incident long before it occurred. And I take some small comfort in the fact that Kain remains the sole survivor of his vile breed. But you have single-handedly made my sacrifice meaningless>>

Raziel puffs.

<< Your argument is disingenuous, Time-Streamer. I cannot see how killing or sparing Kain’s future self would alter these events. This wasteland was created by Kain’s original refusal at the Pillars, and amidst all these twists and turns, _that event_ has never changed>>

While he talks, a strong thunder makes me cover my ears with my hands. I hate thunderstorms.

<< You are cunning, Moebius, but I think you have gotten tangled in your own web>>

<< As Kain clings to his precious seat of power, the Pillars sink into a mire of decay, dragging all of Nosgoth down with them!>>

<< I do not think this has anything to do with the Pillars or Kain’s failure to sacrifice himself. I think you are simply afraid, because you do not know what he is up to. He is a wild-card, is he not, and you do not want his influence in your game. Which is why you wanted me to eliminate him. Now that he has survived, you have no idea what is coming, do you? Maybe for the first time in your entire life. You’re terrified that he may have truly found a third option out of the dilemma you orchestrated for him. >>

<<Kain’s lies have abbled your mind! Leave this place, and trouble my spirit no more!>>

I see a grin painting itself on Raziel’s expression.

<<If you even _are_ a spirit. You have forgotten I have a way to tell for sure…>>

He lowers the cloth of his old cloack uncovering his missing jaw.

<<…if you are willing to risk it…>>

Moebius’s ghost vanishes with an irritate expression and Raziel puts the scarf on again.

<<I did non think so…either way, you lose>>

I walk beside him and lay a hand on his shoulder, he looks at me and we go back to out journey. We knock down other creatures which appear from thin air, go back to the big door on the lake, that is, by now, destroyed, and exit the stronghold. We retrace our way towards the Pillars. Hunters, dogs and demons try to block us, failing. Once we reach the columns, in ruins, we find another spirit, this time of a woman.

<<Forever am I bound, hope abandoned, my spirit tethered to this place...>>

Ariel gives us her back while she continues her monologue. She wears a long white dress with long sleeves.

<<What destroyed the Circle could not touch me. For I was newly dead, and beyond harm’s reach. I alone was spared the descent into madness, and Kain alone was spared the pain of death. When Nupraptor’s poison seized Kain even in the safety of the womb, much more than just his destiny was lost>>

We step nearer in silence.

<<All of Nosgoth lost Balance. Consider us now... both of us less than we once were. I, _pure_ but insubstantial, and Kain, terribly real but _corrupted_ >>

<<Your imprisonment here has deranged you, spirit>>

I look at Raziel confused.

<<You fixate on Kain because you believe he is the tether that binds you here. But we both know he is not the author of your agony. The Pillars were subverted by dark forces, invited by the Guardians themselves. The more I learn of your Circle, the more I see a tangle of nested manipulations>>

<<Kain handed them their victory. They sought to topple the Pillars, and he was their willing instrument!>>

<<Or was he their unwilling pawn? Would it blunt your wrath to know that Kain’s dilemma was calculated to bring the Pillars down, _regardless_ of the choice he made? And that the devastation would have been even greater had he chosen the path you would prescribe for him?>>

Ariel descends, coming to our same height.

<<You are a subtle, deceitful creature…but your clever arguments do not absolve Kain>>

She turns towards us.

<<He _must die_ for the Pillars to be restored. There is no other way>>

<<Then consider this more ominous possibility…what if Kain’s death does not restore the Pillars? Consider that it may simply be _too late_. That this world may be beyond redemption>>

I am even more confused. Is he using…Vorador’s words?>>

<<And that you may be bound here eternally>>

Ariel covers her mouth in fear and vanishes while hiding behind her Pillar. The Pillar of Balance.

<<Raziel?!>>

I see him chase her and vanish too.

<<What the hell is wrong with him…>>

I look around us, big sections of the Pillars lay all scattered on the ground around the raised plate in light rock Assuming to have to continue, I climb on Icarus’s back and we jump on the superior walk. We go on slowly, searching fon any sign. Raziel re-appears a few feet ahead and waits for us. I get down the wolf and step near him.

<<What happened down there? Why did you treat her like that? It seems like you too have not your ideas clear in your mind. First you go against Kain, then Moebius, and now Ariel quoting Vorador’s words and being hypocrite when you are the first one to want Kain’s death. What is wrong with you?!>>

He looks at me a little surprised, he did not expect such an outburst.

<<I am looking for answers, Niah. Everyone speaks in riddles and enigmas, no one who tells me the informations I need, I have to chase people to make them talk and even then I cannot have what I want. I just want to understand>>

<<It might be, but every encounter with Kain and Moebius seems to change you>>

Thinking that I could not notice him, he rolls his eyes annoyed and walks in front of me to go and open the rocky doors with the mural. I follow him annoyed too from that gesture, we go through the cave towards the round room with the Pillars. The great columns are broken here too, and the illusuion of something in transparency is more vivid now, which wraps around the ruins. Raziel looks at those things, then walks near the edge. The whispers begin again, even more udible.

<<An ironic condemnation, given _this_ guilty scene. One would think you would torn down the Pillars single-handedly. What are you trying to obliterate as you drag your loathsome body through this chamber? And why, as Nosgoth descends into madness and misery, do _you_ appear to _thrive_? Things in this world, I am learning, are rarely what they seem. You, apparently, are no exception>>

More whispers, they start to be annoyng.

<<...or maybe you’re just hungry…could it be as simple as that?>>

I raise my eyes to the sky. He shrugs, then brings a hand where once ther was his chin.

<<Would that not be poetic irony? The great adversary of the vampires turns out to be the biggest parasite of them all>>

He crosses his arms listening to his speaker.

<<As your agent, I am beyond death>>

Then he lays his hands on his waist.

<<Oh, I see you now as you truly are. A _cancer_ , a spooling parasite burrowed deep in the heart of this world>>

He listens one last time, then puffs, as always, and nods me to follow him underwater. We swim again through the submerged passages. Further in the way, the water is less deep. Noticing a dark basin, Raziel goes to infuse the Reaver and then we proceed. Between dry and submerged sections of path, Raziel creates a bridge of shadows and we pass it, then we climb helping the wolf too. Other demonic creatures see and attack us, we avoid them and retrace the swamp, fighting against a few humans. I drink their blood and search in their supplies, Icarus feeds on their bodies and Raziel on their souls. We notice that the tree trunk, which blocked the passage in the mountain, is now laying on the ground and the opening is accessible. Raziel climbs up, I get on the wolf’s back and he jumps from the trunk to the passage. We walk between the walls of the caves meeting other warriors and demons. Further in the way we find some gates and, cleared the path, we find ourselves in an abbandoned village. Uschtenheim.


	30. Uschtenheim and the Air Forge

The habitations are devastated by time and bad weather, the old shutters fall in peaces and the only living souls are hunters and their dogs.

<<If the old tales tell the truth, Janos Audron’s retreat is not that far from here>>

<<But, if we really are in the future, he is not here anymore…>>

<<I know. But maybe here we will find a way to go back in time>>

While we get through the humans and the demonic creatures, I see like a thin flashback in the back of my mind. People walking around the streets, children playing near the houses, a little girl hit by a chariot. A little blond girl with big green eyes. I stop in front a house, similar to one in my native village. In my mind, the empty and broken flower pots fill with roses and geraniums, red as blood.

<<Who knows how much time has passed since the last human lived here…>>

<<Niah?>>

I turn around to see Icarus with his ears down whining slightly at me and Raziel who stares at me concerned.

<<Is everything all right? Are you…crying?>>

I wipe my cheek with a hand and look at the wet tear slip down the finger. He walked a little ahead, so he comes back to my side.

<<I am fine…just…this place reminds me of…home…>>

<<Home?>>

<<Yes…well, when I still lived with my father…something reminds me of the years passed there…>>

My eyes fall on some little muddy hand prints on the wall, under the wallpots, sheltered from the rain. I kneel to look better at them, a sad little smile comes to my lips.

<<I did this once too, when my mother was still alive. She was fixing the flowers with the servant, I fell in a puddle and put my hands on the wall to stand up>>

I laugh a little.

<<My father tried to beat me, but mum moved and shielded me…>>

I sigh. Icarus nears me and sniffs at the prints, Raziel kneels beside me and lays a hand on my shoulder.

<<You miss her…do you not?>>

<<You have no idea…and Angy too>>

He caresses my cheek with the back of his claws moving my hair. We are brought back to reality by the sound of some barks and footsteps.

<<We have to go, come on>>

We stand back up and fight. Then we go back to our journey though the corridors in the rock. We run and run, until we find ourselves on a little lake and, above it on the opposite wall, there is a balcony covered by debris. A winged figure is chiselled on the rock under it, like if it is sustaining it. In the lake there are some broken and disconnected parts of a staircase. Maybe once it went from the balcony to the terrace we are now.

<<Wow…>>

The rain falls from the opening between the mountains, giving an even more sense of desolation to this place. A sound and a familiar presence make us turn around to look behind us.

Oh no.

<<Oh no, Every time you turn up something monumental and terrible happens. I do not think I have the stomach for it!>>

I look at Raziel for a second. Then I mentally slap my forehead. Really? Kain chuckels closing the distance calmly, stopping a few inches before the raindrops.

<<No drama _this_ time, Raziel>>

<<You _are_ persistent, crossing time like this to follow me. Still waiting for that coin of yours to land on its edge?>>

Raziel is already impatient. As always. At least he did not call for the Reaver yet.

<<I’m biding my time…I see that Moebius has played a little trick on you>>

My mate sighs.

<<Yes…he clearly does not want me to meet this "Janos Audron">>

<<Perhaps...or maybe he merely hoped that it would harden your heart against me to see this wasteland which I _single-handedly authored_ >>

<<My heart does not need hardening, Kain. If I even suspected that destroying you would make any difference, I would do it this instant>>

Kain laughs approvingly.

<<I knew you would see through them, Raziel>>

He crosses his arms looking at the balcony.

<<Janos is indeed the key to your destiny, but you will need to find your own way back into Nosgoth’s past. Make no mistake though, Raziel…you and I are now in great danger. We are _irritants_ here. Malevolent forces are being marshaled to eliminate us>>

Oh, sure, Just the two of you. You are the only ones to roam in time.

<<You talk as though we were allies>>

Kain leaves his arms long his sides and looks at him.

<<Reguardless your sentiments, Raziel, in _their eyes we are_ >>

<<Well, they are certainly trying to eliminate _you_ , Kain, there can be no doubt of that. I am assaulted relentlessly with demands for your demise. Whatever it is that you are plotting, they are scared to death of you. As for me, I suspect they made a grave error when they allowed my unique resurrection. I do not think they know how to destroy me>>

<<You must not underestimate them, Raziel>>

<<And who exactly is this diabolical "they" to which we keep referring? If there is some grand conspiracy going on, the right hand does not appear to know what the left is doing. Even Moebius seems to be caught out at every turn>>

Raziel moves his weight on a leg and lays his hands on his waist. Kain tightens his fist, slighlty agitated.

<<Moebius is a _puppet_ , Raziel, have you not realized that yet? That is the sweetest irony in all of this>>

He crosses his arms again.

<<Nosgoth’s "great manipulator" is their _plaything_. But the ones pulling the strings have not shown their faces, yet>>

<<They do not like us _unwriting_ their carefully choreographed history, though, do they?>>

<<You must understand, Raziel. We have not _unwritten_ history, we have merely _rewritten_ it. The future flows around our petty actions, finding the path of least resistance while admitting only the slightest alterations. This is the _reshuffling_ you felt, when you refused to kill me. And remember, Raziel, we are irritants in _this_ regard, as well. History will not allow the introduction of a paradox>>

<<And if events cannot be reshuffled to accommodate the change?>>

<<It is the _irritant_ who is _expelled_ >>

Expelled? I do not like it…

<<Bear in mind that this may be _exactly_ the outcome our enemies are trying to provoke. _We must tread very carefully_ >>

In the very moment Kain vanishes, the wolf shackes himself from the rain wetting where the vampire was. And me and Raziel too.

<<We just needed the smell of wet dog…>>

Icarus looks at Raziel, walks around him and pushes him over the edge, making him fall in the water. I cover my mouth laughing and petting the animal’s head.

<<Ha-ha, very funny>>

Raziel starts to swim towards a ledge to the left, where some humans patrol. Icarus and I jump in the water and follow him, coming out of the water when he has already cleared the path. We proceed with weapons and fangs ready to be used and, more deep in the mountain, we find a temple for the Reaver. Raziel infuses the blade with darkness and blinds the eye above the door, then he opens it and we enter. The walls and the columns are in whitish bricks and pink rock, on the walls there are luminous red crystars, in the main hall a mural attracts us towards itself. The winged race agonizing that falls from the sky wrapped in a red glow, while the opponent race casts what seems to be a spell with the shape of a skull towards them.

<<A curse…the firsts vampires in Nosgoth…>>

Raziel stares at the wall, Icarus backs away visibly uncomfortable and I go to calm him down. With the corner of my eyes I look better at the opponent race. Membranous wings, smooth skin, no hair or feathers. Hylden. When Raziel moves we follow him. We walk up the stairs that leads us on a semi bridge with a pedestal with the light symbol and an altar with an object with the same shape of the passage over a jump. Raziel infuses the Reaver with light from a basin behind us, steps on the pedestal and shoots a kinetic sphere to the object. The light beams spread around it and the passage on the wall behind it opens. Revealing some bars.

<<Other gates? I missed them. Really>>

While Raziel vanishes in the spectral realm, probably to proceed, Icarus and I jump to the other side, waiting. My mate comes back a little later activating the hidden lever and opening the path. Carrying on long the hallway, other of those strange un-dead guards start to spawn again, one of them with a shield shaped as the lock behind them. Opened those big doors too, we find ourselves in a roundish room without ceiling. Two statues of tigers on the superior wall seem to roar to a snake with its mouth open, wrapped on a pillar half interred in the center. Below us there are two elemental basins, three paths on the bottom and three other a little above them.

<<I believe it is better if I go down there alone. The wolf cannot jump this high>>

I open my mouth to argue, but I look down rubbing my arm.

<<Maybe you are right…I am beginning to feel tired, I would just slow you down>>

He lays his hands on my shoulders squeezing lightly.

<<Rest and eat something. I will try to solve this as quick as I can>>

I nod and he jumps down. Icarus enters the room again and lays down near the wall, I follow him and sit leaning on him with my back.

<<I feel useless…>>

I pull out some supplies from the bag and eat them, then I snuggle up and close my eyes. When I open them again I found myself in a garden, sitted against a tree. It is night, the full moon illuminates the blades of grass that move with the breeze. I notice I am not wearing my armor, but a bordeux dress with long sleeves. Lying over the skirt, between my legs and with his head laying on my stomach, there is Raziel, still in his vampiric form. I brush his hair, combing it with my fingers. He has his eyes closed, a peaceful smile on his black lips. I hear myself humming an old melody, a lullaby that reminds me of something. A woman’s voice resounds in my mind. A hand caresses my cheek, a tear falls on the other. He is looking at me a little worried.

<<Is everything all right?>>

<<Yes…my mother sang this to me…>>

Raziel stands up and offers me his hand, lifting me effotlessly, he wraps my waist and kisses my forehead. Than he takes one of my hands and begins to sway, keeping his other hand behind my back. He smiles at me sweetly, humming a melody of his own and takes a few steps. We stay there for a while, dancing under the starry sky. He lifts me from the waist spinning around and we laugh, than he places me again on the ground and makes me spinn on myself before resting his hands on my waist once more and his forehead on mine. A couple of bats flies over our heads and hids in the leaves of the tree. We start to walk one beside the other near the little reaver which flows there, then in the distance we see a shadow.

<<Kain wants to talk to me…>>

I look at him. On his back came out a pair of wings. He did not have those a moment ago.

<<No...>>

Raziel gets away from me, the ground starts to tremble and, after a few steps, he falls in the void.

I am woken up by the noise and the earthquake that shakes the sanctuary. A wind coming from under the column hits my face, the two tigers blow towards the snake where Raziel has infused the Reaver with the air element and is now floating from the surface of the forge. When he lands, he examines the blade, and the doors between us close.

<<Raziel?!>>

I lay my hands on the rock noticing a few whitish translucent sparkles between my fingers, then I see him come out from a roundish openig above the closed door and jumps down near us.

<<It took me more than expected, forgive me>>

He looks at me and I see him open his eyes wide.

<<…why are you crying?>>

<<Uh?>>

I dry my face and look at my hands.

<<I-it is nothing…>>

<<What happened?>>

I raise my shoulders looking to the ground.

<<Just a dream…I fell asleep while you were in there>>

<<Oh. Alright…if you are sure then, I think we can resume our journey>>

<<Where to?>>

<<I do not know. For know, let’s get out of here>>

We go back to the gate, but in its place we find the same rock door of before the light activation. It is cracked even if it looks solid. Raziel looks at the blade, it is white and almost transparent. He charges the blow and shoots at the block, shattering it.

<<Alright…maybe we can open the time streaming chamber in the swamp then>>

We exit the sanctuary and walk back long the galleries in the mountains, trepassing the lake with the balcony, then Uschtenheim and next to the South, towards the swamp. Between humans and monsters, we leave corpses and wounded behind us and, once we find the chamber, Raziel opens the passage and we enter. We go down the steps which lead us to the machine. The room is identical to the one in the Sarafan Stronghold.

<<So…what now? We do not know how to set this thing, it could send us anywhere…well, anywhen>>

He looks at me, then the gear and goes near it.

<<Raziel?>>

<<We have to try, we can do nothing more here>>

I sigh and walk near him with the wolf.

<<Let’s hope everything will go smooth…>>

Raziel puts his hands on the main gear, I wrap one arm around his one and the other on the wolf, then he turns the sphere to the right and hugs me tight when the fog and the thunders appear around us. In the clouds of smoke I see a glimpse of black feathers, fire, blood, Sarafan priests, Kain. Once our feet touch the ground again we retrieve our balance, we get out of the chamber and go up the stairs. The doors of the building are intact and, when they open, the landscape has changed. Snow.


	31. The Tenth Guardian

Little white flakes fall from above between the leaves and braches of the extremely high trees, everywhere there are erected flags with the Sarafan symbol and as many vampires impaled corpses.

<<It worked…we are back in the Sarafan era>>

<<And how do we know if Janos Audron is still alive?>>

<<The only way to find it out is to go and check>>

I look again my surroundings. The smell of decomposing flesh is even stronger than the one in the future and nausea assaults me.

<<Come on, we do not have time to waste>>

We start to walk once more towards the passage that leads to the North. The tree trunk that bloched the way the first time we passed here is now standing in its place. Raziel uses a plate on the ground, activating it with the air Reaver, I climb the tree helping myself with the knife, Icarus backs up and runs, jumping, holding on the edge, but the ice makes him slip and he falls back down.

<<Icarus!>>

He shakes his head and stands, then he tries once more, failing again.

<<Alright buddy, I will help you. Jump again!>>

He takes a few steps back, runs and jumps. I concentrate what is needed to pull him up with the telekinesis. Once on our same level, he comes to me and licks my face happily.

<<Yes yes! I get it! You are welcome>>

<<You overgrown dog>>

Icarus licks Raziel too and begins to walk proudly long the rocky corridors. I laugh at Raziel’s sigh, then we follow the wolf. After a while we stumble in a Sarafan campsite near a little waterfall.

<<Hail all that is holy!>>

Their armor is elegant, their weapons are decorated with their emblem and here and there there are impaled vampires. Raziel charges actracting all of them, I instead search in their tents something useful, other than something to eat. In the successive camps we move in the same way and then we travel towards Uschtenheim, surpassing the Sarafan that try to stop us. Crossed the village too we head to the lake. The surface is frozen, the solid layer of ice is thick enough to walk on. The balcony is intact, some light can be seen coming from the inside the refuge and a powerful presence seems to reside between its walls. Raziel and I jump on the lake’s surface, but I do not hear the wolf’s steps behind us.

<<Icarus?>>

The wolf sniffs the air and licks his mouth.

<<What is it? Did you smell something?>>

Without even looking at me, the wolf sprints towards the left side of the lake.

<<Icarus!>>

He turns and looks at me wagging his tail. I sigh.

<<Be careful…>>

He barks and starts running again. We walk on the icy surface, which allows us to see the crystal water underneath through a large hole carved in the middle.

<<Stay here on guard. I will go explore, I will try to be quick>>

He dives, then I see him disappear. I glance around. Had not it been for the Sarafan and their “trophies”, this place would have been beautiful, quite, perfect. After a while the wall under the balcony explodes and the debris almost bury me. Raziel is on the other side with the air Reaver.

<<Try not to destroy everything…and you almost hit me>>

He rolls his eyes.

<<I am sorry, I did not know you were there, but I need _that_ >>

He points to a elemental basin with the power of darkness and goes to infuse the blade, I slowly walk in, waiting for him. The building inside the mountain is huge. Grey stone builds the bridges, ramps and towers and, on the groud floor, there is a red and black carpet worn out by the time. We see large empy cups stand on decorated pedestals inside the towers while we go down the ramp and a single larger one, full of blood, stands in front of us in the middle of the chamber. On the side an eye looks down upon a presumably empty smaller cup. Raziel blinds the guardian and retrieves the chalice, fills it with the carmine liquid and brings it in on of the towers. Once there, he pours the blood into a second cup thus creating a dark stone ramp. Ancient’s magic must have been incredibly powerful to be able to create such puzzles. We walk up along the new path, follow a hallway with a floor that looks as if it was iced over and we reach another chamber similar to the previous. The mountain is hollow and snow falls inside. On the opposite wall there is a balcony similar to the one on the outside and four towers, three floor each, stand in the chamber and hold drawibridges and more cups to be filled. On the sidewalls there are hallways and niches. Between cups, chaliches, blood, a few un-deads and materializing passages, I help him solve the puzzle that slowly leads us towards the last cup to fill. I see him hesitate, I lay a hand on his arm and smile at him when he looks at me.

<<Come on…we are almost there>>

He nods and empties the chalice, the last ramp in dark stone appears and we walk it. A door sealed by a lock with the shape of a hand opens when Raziel lays his own on it. Mine does not have that shape, I could not have unlocked it. Slowly we walk the corridor, a few suspended lanterns illuminate the way with a purplish light. A large double door in dark wood divides us from that presence I sensed from outside. Raziel opens them, we enter and they close back on their own. The dark and lustrous floor reflects the ceiling, a black carpet with red details runs long the large room dividing it in two. In the center there is a stone taple, on the right a lit fireplace and a couple of bookshelves, on the left there is a locked trunk. And on the other side of the room, looking outside, stands a tall figure hidden by a great pair of black feathered wings.

<<Janos Audron?>>

Raziel’s tone is shocked, I cannot believe my eyes. The stained glasses in the Stronghold were blatant lies. That figure sighs, relaxing his shoulders and feathery limbs.

<<It is heartening, after all these years, to hear my name spoken without contempt>>

The vampire turns towards us, his light blue skin let us glimpse at his well shaped and muscular body, he wears a pair of large black trousers, a white robe with gold and red linings, black collar and shoulderpads. On his feet there are only a few bandages which let the heels and the fingers free. Hands and feet are not chitin claws as Raziel’s own, but flesh fingers that end with black nails. I look at Raziel’s hands and mine. He has blue skin and the shape, I have fingers and nails. Janos’ hand are a mix of ours. His eyes are the color of the gold, his lips black, his short black hair, grey on the temples, are neatly combed behind. When he sees us and frames better my mate, he brings a hand to his mouth in surprise.

<<Raziel? My child, what have they done to you?>>

His voice is deep, worried and displeased.

<<I have been dragged through hell and back. All, it seems, to reach _this_ moment. But I do not yet know _why_ …>>

The ancient addresses his glance to me.

<<I did perceive only one presence, I did not expect another guest too>>

I bow slightly keeping my head low.

<<My name is Niah, my lord. My presence is hidden from you because of my nature, as just a half of it is the one of a vampire, and it is one of my passive abilities>>

<<I see…then, welcome, my dear>>

I bow my head again in gratitude, then I walk towards the fireplace while Janos and Raziel talk and move away a little. I do not want to be in the middle, I want to leave them have the space they need.

<<For thousands of years, I have waited...alone here, losing faith...at the time of the Binding, nine guardians were called to serve the Pillars. And I was summoned as the tenth guardian, the keeper of the Reaver, the weapon of our salvation. Over time, our race died out. Until I alone remained... sustained only by my obligation to you, and by my guardianship of the blade>>

He signs Raziel with a hand to follow him and he goes to the balcony. My eyes glance around. Dark stone decorates the walls, two curve staircases lead to the first floor where there is a large decorated door.

<<And the other nine? Why did their guardianship not sustain _them_?>>

Janos’ head is low, nostalgic.

<<I do not know…as our race dwindled, the humans prospered. I have watched, over the centuries, as our history faded into myth, and finally receded altogether. The humans have forgotten us entirely, and claimed the Pillars for themselves, wholly ignorant of their true purpose. To them, I am merely a devil, the origin of their vampire “plague”>>

Raziel follows him, staying a little behind.

<<Why would the Pillars summon human guardians, then, if they are meant to be served by vampires?>>

<<The Pillars choose their guardians from birth, Raziel. And vampires are no longer born>>

This explains the change.

<<This is the crux of our dilemma. And _this_ is the terrible irony, with their vampire purge, the members of the Circle have assaulted the very architects of the Pillars they are sworn to protect. They have embarked on a treacherous path>>

Janos crosses his arms.

<< With every vampire they kill, the humans are _slitting their own throats_ >>

When Raziel stands beside him, Janos sighs looking towards the lake

<<They know I am up here, beyond their reach, and it terrifies them>>

There is something wrong…I have the sensation I forgot something…

<<You can see how they flaunt their kills to torment me...or perhaps simply to lure me out. They have this foolish notion that destroying me will somehow topple our entire bloodline. Thankfully, we are not that fragile>>

I walk near them silently, curious to listen more clearly.

<<I have seen them mustering their forces in the village, below>>

<<Yes. I do not know what they are plotting... but I fear our time may be bitterly short>>

<<Mankind seems to have brought you only torment and grief…you must hate them…>>

<<They fear what they do not understand…and they despise what they fear…but no, I do not hate them>>

<<Vorador does>>

<<He has suffered much, he cannot forgive them>>

I wold have never expected such words after all he suffered.

<< _Should_ they be forgiven?>>

<<They do not understand what they are doing. They are simply unenlightened... and vulnerable to manipulation>>

<<So it is all true, then, what Kain and Vorador have told me…I really am some kind of unholy vampire messiah...>>

<<Unholy? No…messiah...perhaps>>

<<I do not like that word, it smells of martyrdom>>

<<Raziel, your role in this world’s destiny is more crucial, and more benevolent, than you have allowed yourself to believe. Your journey will not be easy. Dark powers are allied against you>>

I think to know what he is talking about.

<<But I think you already know this... you appear to have been cruelly tested>>

Janos turns back, walking towards the closed trunk.

<<The Binding must be secured, Raziel. The Pillars are the lock…>>

Raziel follows him a little back and I stay aside.

<<…and the Reaver is the key>>

<<Yes>>

<<The Reaver is here? Why do I feel nothing?>>

As it seems, nether I or Raziel sense any strange feeling. Janos opens the trunk, and only now I notice the shape of the blade carved on the surface, and the Soul Reaver is there, on a long black pillow.

<<The most formidable weapon ever forged by our swordsmiths...they infused the blade with vampiric energy, empowering the Reaver to drain our enemies of their precious lifeblood>>

Janos takes the sword and offers it to Raziel that, reluctanctly, nears his hand. But he retracts it almost immediately, panicked.

<<Please, take it away from me!>>

A strange metallic sound coming from the doors starles us. The realization hits me like a punch in the stomach. We let the way open to the Sarafan.


	32. History abhors a paradox...

<<I fear you have been followed...>>

In the same moment Janos places the Reaver in its container, the doors slam open revealing six Sarafan warriors, each of them with a different armor color, five of them with silvery plates and the other with golden ones. When Raziel tries to attack the humans, Janos blocks him.

<<You must save yourself, Raziel!>>

The Ancient pushes the wraith and I see my mate being sucked in a whirl.

<<Janos! No!!>>

And like this, he vanishes. His aura is near, but I do not know wher he is. I unsheathe my sword and I find myself faed by two of them, yellow and lightblue. One with the sword and the other with a lance. I recognize the colors and the seahorses on the armor of the blue one, for I have seen them in the Chapel in the Stronghold. Melchiah and Rahab. No…

<<A woman? She is the one who was with the blue demon! What would you have done to her, monster?! Was she a sacrifice??>>

<<She has a sword!>>

The golden armored priest, with the red cloth, looks at me after ordering those with the grey, green and purple armor to attack Janos. I recognize them too because of the paintings. Zephon, Turel e Dumah. Oh no…

<<I want her alive! She may be under this beast’s spell!>>

Spell? What the hell are they talking about? Then a familiar sparkle attracts me. Sarafan Turel holds in his hands Moebius’s crystal and Janos seems to be already weak.

<<No!>>

I try to reach him but the two warriors in front of me block the way. Even if not that strong, Moebius’s staff gives me a little dizziness. What is happening? Time passes by, I defend myself and keep trying to help Janos, but the longer the crystal is activated, the more I loose grip on my sword. How much time has passed? With a hit of his lance, Rahab makes me drop my weapon and, rotating it again, trips me making me fall. Together with Melchiah, they block me to the ground while Turel, with a stronger hit on the floor, immobilizes Janos on the stone table after an order of his superior.

<<No do not-!>>

The red Sarafan has removed his helmet. The breath stops in my throat and I am petrified by horror. His short black hair falls on his forehead and on the sides from a central line, his ice blue eyes burn in victory. On his left arm sticks out a curved blade and he points it to Janos’ chest.

<<Stop!!>>

Something hard hits my nape. Now everything is blurry, everything is muffled. A heartbreaking scream.

<<Look at his black heart, how it still beats!>>

Then I sense the floor shake.

<< The fiend intends to bury us alive! Raziel, we must get out of here!>>

<<Remember the sword!>>

I am raised from the ground and dragged away. Then complete darkness and silence. I see again those faces that had accompanied me for centuries. Zephon’s jokes, the conversations with Rahab, Turel’s stubborness, Dumah’s simple-mindedness, Melchiah’s fragility. And Raziel, who saved me from a horrible life, gifted me with un-life and grew me a second time, as daughter, fledging and mate. I see them smile, then vanish as blown smoke. When I wake up, I am lying on a camp bed, my head is still beating, but the bump has disappeard. I sit and rub my eyes, a metallic clink makes me notice the iron armbands linked to a chain in the center of the chamber.

<<What…>>

I look around myself. I am unarmed, without armor but with my light shirt and trousers on. I am closed in a cell, sunbeams enter from a high grate creating a shadows play near the gate.

<<Where the hell did I end up…>>

Then the memories of the refuge.

<<No...>>

Two of the Sarafan of the battle reveal themselves in front of my cell without helmet, with a taller Priest, armor and helemt more elaborate and with a darker shade of purple. Rahab holds his lance on his side while Zephon keeps his arms crossed.

<<She is the one, Malek>>

Malek…it was the other name carved on the Sarafan tomb wall.

<<And she is awake. Excellent. You, come here>>

He points at me, I stand up and slowly walk to the center of the cell. A few inches before my shadow can show on the floor.

<<Closer>>

I get nearer, letting the sun wrap me complitely.

<<She is not a vampire…what were you doing in the retreat of that monster? Speak!>>

I hesitate to answer, I cannot say I was with someone, even if they saw me with my Raziel.

<<Retreat? Monster?>>

<<Maybe she really was under a spell, Malek>>

<<Maybe. If she was not, maybe she would have asked for help>>

<<Escuse me, gentlemen…could you please tell me what is going on?>>

Malek signs me to show him my wrists, and I do so. He frees me from the handcuffs but leaves me in the cell.

<<Malek! Rahab! Zephon! You must come back!>>

A minor Sarafan is panicking and calls for my interlocutors’ attention.

<<Damn it. We will explain everything later. Moebius will surely want to see you>>

Malek hands over the keys to a minor guard near there telling him not to let me out, then he exits with the other two. Damn it. I look outside the cell. My belongings are near the guard, but I cannot reach them. And if I use my powers, he could bust me.

<<Excuse me sir, I am starting to feel my strength fadeing…I need to eat something…>>

<<Uhm…yes, sure>>

The Sarafan rummages in the bag made from the worn Dumahim banner and hands me a couple of fruits.

<<Thank you…>>

When I make my hands pass through the bars, I grab the guard’s wrists and pull him at me, making him hit his head against the iron and making him fall. When he stands up, stunned, he is giving me his back, so I grip his head by the sides and turn it, breaking his neck.

<<Nice sound>>

I retreave the keys and, after a coulpe of tries, I manage to open the cell. In the dungeon there are no more guards or prisoners. Very good. I replace my armor plates while I eat something, grab my rickety bag and the knife, take the sword from the Sarafan and, with the keys, I run towards the exit. I sense two familiar auras inside the Stronghold. A howl well recognizable echoes through the corridors.

<<Icarus…>>

They must have sensed me. Only Raziel and the wolf can sense my presence. And that is a fortune and a misfortune. I exit the dungeon and start running in the hallways and the stairs, knocking down anyone who tries to stop me. I sense them run in my direction, and I run towards them.

<<Niah!!>>

In the moment we turn the corner I jump on him hugging him tight, making him fall backwards.

<<You are safe! Are you hurt? Did they do something to you?>>

Icarus walks around us wagging his tail happily and trying to insert his muzzle in the hug. I squeeze him too brushing the fur on his head.

<<For what I know, they did not even lay a finger on me…well, except the hit on the nape>>

Raziel checks the back of my head and sighs in reliefe not seeing any sign.

<<Oh, yes. I recuperated this>>

He takes my sword from the floor and hands it to me.

<<I know you care about it…>>

<<Thank you…>>

I take it, swap it with the Sarafan one and I give a quick kiss on Raziel’s cheekbone. Then he stands up and helps me to do the same.

<<We must retrieve the Reaver>>

I nod and we start walking down the hallways once more. Suddently, in a room between two corridors, we find a square base pedestal and, on it, is laying the Soul Reaver. Again, no sense of displacement. Cautiously, Raziel nears it and goes to grab it, but the door behind us opens revealing Moebius and Malek.

<<So, Raziel. Here we are, finally. You have no choice but to confront me _now_ , and I am not so foolish as I have let you believe. We have business to conclude>>

His staff is once more in his hands and prevents my mate to summon his phantom blade. When Malek lays his gaze on me, he aims his lance against me.

<<You? How did you escape?! I told the guard non to let you go!>>

I take the ring with the keys and make it rotate on a finger, provoking him with a smile.

<<Ups>>

<<You dirty traitor->>

<<Leave her, Malek>>

Raziel takes a step forward.

<<You _knew_ I would lead the Sarafan to Janos, you vile bastard! You have been orchestrating my every move!>>

Moebius just laughs.

<<My destiny is an amusement to you?>>

<<It was fun, while it lasted>>

Raziel takes another step forward to approach them, but Malek threaten him with the blade of the lance.

<<I think not, Raziel. Malek, do not let this creature leave! He and his companions pose a danger to the Circle>>

All of a sudden, I sense a new known presense in the Stronghold. Powerful, enraged.

<<Poor, deluded Raziel...did you somehow imagine you had the guile to change history on _me_? _I am_ the Time-Streamer. I knew your every intention before you did, you imbecile>>

A femenine voice echoes through the walls calling the Sarafan warrior’s name, while an almost evil laugh follows.

<< Call your dogs! They can feast on your corpses! >>

That voice…Vorador? Another voice, a male one, calls for Malek terrorized. Moebius Knows what is happening.

<< Lord Moebius, there is trouble within! The Circle is under attack!>>

<< Hold fast, Malek. _This_ one is the real danger to us>>

Raziel backs up towards the pedestal.

<<What are you trying to concoct here, Moebius?>>

<< You _toxic_ creature. Did you imagine I would simply allow you to run loose, corrupting everything you encounter?>>

<<I admit that I have underestimated you to this point, Moebius>>

Raziel turns around and grabs the Reaver.

<<But it is a mistake I will not repeat>>

<< Wrong again, Raziel>>

Moebius exits the room without turning.

<< Now, Malek! Bolt the door!>>

The Sarafan follows him and closes the door, making a gate fall too. I see Raziel observe the Reaver, as to understand something. Then he walks towards the other door.

<<Come on, we have to go on and retrieve Janos’ heart>>

We continue long the corridor and we find ourselves in the inner courtyard. There, waiting for us, there are Melchiah and Zephon, the weaker members of Kain’s line.

<<Come to take your revenge, demon?>>

<<Back to hell with you! And you, damned woman, you will go with him together with that beast!>>

Icarus grows and readies himself to jump. Raziel charges against Melchiah, the wolf and I weaken Zephon. When the Reaver penetrates the Sarafan’s armor, their blood is sucked in the blade and seems to regenerate who holds it. Raziel’s eyes seem in flames. He starts again to walk and we reach the nave of the cathedral, where we are approached by Dumah and Rahab.

<<Have you come to reclaim the monster’s black heart?>>

<< You will have to get through _us_ , first!>>

Raziel charges again, furious. He moves so fast and with such a strength that I fear to get nearer. Something is wrong…

Once they are not alive anymore, Raziel walks without a word towards the chapels, where Turel waits for us, alone.

<<Get back to the pit you crawled from, demon!>>

Without hesitation, Raziel launches himself against him, leaving him lifeless in a short time. The Reaver has not the time to finish sucking Turel’s lifeblood that my mate is already walking towards what will be the memorial chapel of the just reaped victims. I follow him worried, staying beside Icarus. There, in the center of the round chamber, inside the symbol of the snake that eats its tail, awaits Raziel, the Sarafan who ripped Janos’ still beating heart from the Ancient’s chest. Sword in a hand and wrist-blade on the other arm. My Raziel walks in threatening while the priest seem too confident.

<<So, _vampire_ , here we are. You have destroyed my brethren, and now you have come for me? You will find I am not such easy prey>>

Raziel stops, entering the circle on the floor.

<<I do not want to kill you, but I will if I must. Return the heart to me, and we can end this now>>

<<So you have come to avenge that filthy parasite, and reclaim his foul heart? You are a righteous fiend, are you not?

<<Apparently I _am_ >>

I sense Icarus’ confusion from how he moves his eyes between the two Raziel talking. I pet him trying to comfort him.

<<No, vampire. This is where it ends, but you and your companions will not be leaving this room. Now let us finish this, I will make it mercifully quick>>

<<As you did for Janos?>>

The Sarafan laughs, proud.

<<No, that beast had eluded us for far too long. It would have been a shame to end him too quickly. It is ironic, really! The “great Janos Audron” turned out to be no challenge at all…thanks to you. Did you hear his cowardly screams when I tore that black heart out of his carcass?>>

Furious, Raziel shoots forward and the battle begins. Their combat style is almost identical. Sound of colliding swords resounds through the walls while the two alter-ego fight, but we know that the human has no hope. For each wound he recieves, my Raziel’s ones heal. So, after what seemed an eternity and a few seconds at the same time, the Reaver is stuck in the human stomach. In his last breath, the wraith pulls the body to him, worsening the wound.

<<I _renounce you_...>>

The corpse falls to the ground, Raziel straightens, staring at it.

<<And so it ends…my history comes full circle…>>

I walk near him from behind, on his arm appears again the phantom blade which wraps around the fisical one, leaving Raziel’s shoulder. The two blades reunited. Then I see him move his arm, like a spasm, and he shakes his head to recover, but the blade begins to rebel, trying to hit him.

<<What-!>>

Raziel tries to stop it, to move it. But in vain. Shortly after, the blade stabs him in what remains of his chest.

<<No!!>>

Raziel falls to his knees, trying to extract it, but with every passing second it takes his energy. I run in front of him, trying to remove it from my mate, but nothing. A presence, I do not know if friend or foe anymore, appears behind me.

<<You!>>

Raziel looks at the presence, and I turn too. Kain rushes in the center of the chamber ignoring Icarus’ warnings.

<<Are you enjoying this, Kain?!>>

Raziel’s painful pants hit me right in the chest, I leave the sword trembling and tears start to copiously fall on my cheeks.

<<No…no no no!>>

<< Do not fight it, Raziel... _give in_ to it...>>

<< Was this your destiny for me, all along?!>>

<< _Trust me_ …>>

I am paralized, Icarus continues to growl, now more frightened. Raziel closes his eys and stops to resist, it seems like I can see him disappear. But then, the displacement, the temporal distorsion of when there were two Reavers in the same place in the same time. At last, Kain grabs the hilt of the sword and extracts it, effortlessly, and letting it fall on the floor. Raziel falls forward, on all fours.

<<Now you are free to reclaim your true destiny, Raziel!>>

From an almost relieved expression, a look of horror slowly dawns on Kain's face. While the room trembles, in his yellow eyes seem to flow new pictures that he never saw, maybe new memories. Raziel slowly and painfully rises, staggering.

<<Raziel!>>

I try to help him, but his body seems too heavy. Kain presses his hands on his temples, aching.

<<My god…the Hylden!>>

He stumbles for a moment, then he shakes his head recovering.

<<We walked right into their trap…>>

Then he grabs Raziel from his shoulder, shaking him. But he seems absent.

<<Raziel! Janos must _stay dead_!>>

But Raziel vanishes, by now without any strength. Kain has created another enormous paradox. And, as he said…history abhors a paradox...

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fanfiction posted here and in english so if there are any grammar mistakes do not hesitate to tell me ^^
> 
> Also I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, i don't know how often I'll post but I'll try
> 
> Thank you for passing by!


End file.
